ESTEVAN — City crews in Estevan have been out trying to open up emergency roads since 5:30 a.m. on Saturday.
However, with the blizzard still packing a punch Saturday morning and zero visibility reported even within the city limits, the streets are filling up with snow drifts faster than the equipment can possibly clean them.
Norm Mack, roads and drainage manager with the City of Estevan's public works division, said they ask the residents to stay home on Saturday for their own safety and to allow city crews to get the job done.
"It's zero visibility and it's not good. You can't even see where you're driving, so you don't even know if you're in a snowbank or in a ditch," Mack said. "We've been out since early morning trying to keep some emergency roads open, but they're blowing in quicker than we can clean them. So we advise absolutely no traffic … I wouldn't advise any travel even within the city today."
Every piece of equipment the city has is currently deployed and will be working on the city roads throughout the day.
"Plan for the day is to continue opening plugged roads and intersections. And then when the wind goes down, we can get at cleaning up the city a bit. Right now, we're just trying to keep some roads open," Mack said.
The city will continue working on the streets until about 7 p.m., weather permitting, and then crews will get back to it Sunday morning.
"Guys can only work so long," said Mack.
The city put Voyent Alerts on their website and through the app and also updates the residents about the current situation through their Facebook page.
SASKTODAY.ca will keep an eye on the situation in the city and around the area and will have more updates as they become available.
