March 28, 2024 20:23 (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Delhi High Court rejects PIL seeking removal of Arvind Kejriwal as CM | MHA extends AFSPA in 3 districts of Arunachal Pradesh for 6 months | Encourage fair, transparent and legal process: US comments again on Kejriwal's arrest | India and China discuss border disengagement: EAM | Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar discusses defence, trade while interacting with Malaysian leaders
Toronto: Cancellation of flights, shutting down of universities, over 500 collisions caused by heavy snow

Toronto: Cancellation of flights, shutting down of universities, over 500 collisions caused by heavy snow

India Blooms News Service | | 16 Dec 2016, 10:47 pm
Toronto, Dec 16 (IBNS): The city of Toronto was in a grip of mix of rain, snow and freezing rain which began Thursday around 3pm, causing the cancellation of at least 60 flights, about 46 delays, and at least a dozen more to board late into the evening.

At Billy Bishop City Centre Airport on Toronto Island, at least seven flights had been cancelled, while another 15 have been delayed since 3 p.m.

Air Canada had informed that affected passengers could rebook their flights without penalty, provided there were available spaces.

Toronto and much of southern Ontario Thursday had been warned by Environment Canada of winter travel advisory as five-to-10 centimetres of snow began falling in the mid-afternoon resulting in the whiteout conditions on roads and highways across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

Drivers were cautioned to drive slowly as seven rush-hour collisions were reported by 5:30 p.m. in the city alone.

The people travelling by public transit also encountered significant delays.

The TTC suspended trains on the Scarborough Rapid Transit line at 5:50 p.m. because of the disruption of signal services caused by cold.

Shuttle buses were arranged to run between Kennedy and McCowan stations.

Thursday night exams were cancelled by York University and Humber College, but as of 5 p.m. Ryerson University said it would be open for the time being.

In the meantime some students who were stuck in the traffic were concerned about their grades being at risk and were making the call.

On Friday another five to 10 centimetres of snow could fall starting at night after 7 p.m. to be continued into Saturday, reported Environment Canada’s special weather statement for the GTA.

Cancellation of about 80 flights in and out of Pearson International Airport have been reported Friday morning following dozens of cancellations on Thursday.

A snowfall warning is in effect for parts of southern Ontario, including Barrie, where 15 to 20 centimetres could fall.

The snow will change to rain on Saturday changing to a short period of milder weather.

But it will change back to snow on Saturday night when the temperature drops again and driving conditions could be poor during the storm, said the agency.

Over 500 collisions have been reported by the police since 6am today in the GTA and surrounding areas.

Meanwhile, Toronto remained under an issued on Wednesday.

Two cold weather drop-in centres in Toronto will remain open 24 hours a day until noon on the day the alert ends.

 

(Reporting and photographs by Asha Bajaj )

 

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.