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<\/p>\nAlberta has been hit with a spring snowstorm, creating chaos on highways across the province.<\/p>\n
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Wood Buffalo RCMP issued a travel advisory Thursday for Highway 63 from mile marker 164, and soon sent another advisory that police were at the scene for multiple collisions.<\/p>\n
Conditions worsened, and the highway became unpassable.<\/p>\n
At this time, it\u2019s not clear how many people were stuck on the highway. Plows and tow trucks were unable to make it through, and the RCMP shifted its focus from opening the highway to making sure people had supplies to survive, delivering food and gas to stranded motorists.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the night went on, what we saw was extreme accumulation of snow on the highway in which we saw multiple vehicles, semi-trucks, regular vehicles completely stuck. Tow trucks were unable to respond, and we had to transfer our priority from opening the highway to just ensuring people\u2019s safety,\u201d Alberta RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cSomebody who had diabetes needed assistance, RCMP assisted EMS by going into the area, helping that person, bringing them out to waiting EMS so that they could get him some medical treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n
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As of Friday morning, motorists are still stuck, and it is expected to take several more hours before the road opens.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s still very complex, and there still remains to be an extreme amount of accumulation of snow, with drifts three or four feet deep on the highway. So, it\u2019s going to take some time for the highways to be able to open up,\u201d Savinkoff said.<\/p>\n
A a transportation department spokesperson told Global News in an email its highway maintenance contractor and several other crews are working to clear the snowfall.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe priority is to safely clear the roads as quickly as possible. The highway will reopen once it is safe to do so,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n
The night has been stressful for people stranded. Judith Iwaszkiw said she is fine, but she has seen other messages about moms with infants who have no water and no food and are low on fuel.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s at least 50 [vehicles] in front of us, and you could see at night the lights, it goes at least a kilometre behind us stuck,\u201d Iwaskiw said.<\/p>\n
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Bryan Routhier said they left St. Albert to go to Fort McMurray around 2:30 p.m. Thursday. He said they fuelled up at the last gas station for 200 kilometres before they got home.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were slowing down, and I have a video where there\u2019s about five vehicles on the side of the road, and one with a jack-knife trailer they were towing. [A woman] said the one with the trailer tried to pass them in the left-hand lane and drove them all off the road,\u201d Routhier said.<\/p>\n
Routhier was higher up on the highway, and he was able to get home after spending the night in his truck.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was intermittent white-out conditions. Then it got dark out and there wasn\u2019t much light, only the headlights,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Savinkoff stressed that the situation is a prime example of what can happen when the weather turns in Alberta and is reminding people to think twice before travelling in stormy conditions. If you do, make sure you have supplies.<\/p>\n
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