Gravenhurst still digging out after storm, Hwy 11 to reopen later today

Downed hydro lines, trees and abandoned vehicles are hampering snow-clearing efforts in Gravenhurst Monday, officials with the town say, after intense snow squalls battered parts of Ontario over the weekend.

In an update posted on Gravenhurst's website, officials said that since Saturday, workers have cleared more than 50 trees that had fallen across roadways.

"Work on this continues but it is slow," the statement reads. "Getting tree removal resources to these locations takes time."

Downed hydro lines are also posing a challenge — the town says though it doesn't have an exact count of how many have fallen, there have been "dozens of instances" where hydro lines draped across roads have slowed snow removal. In each of those cases, utility workers have to be called in to remove them.

The town in Muskoka, which is roughly 176 kilometres north of Toronto, was hit with around 140 centimetres of snow over the weekend and subsequently declared a state of emergency early Sunday.

Ontario Provincial Police say they expect to reopen Highway 11 this afternoon, after officials were forced to close nearly 100 kilometres of the roadway between Orillia and Highway 60 in Huntsville after the storm rendered it impassable.

OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt says crews are still working to clear the snow and they hope to reopen the northbound lanes of the highway around noon and the southbound lanes later in the afternoon.

He says there will be limited access to the highway and not every entrance and exit will be reopened as snow plowing continues.

Gravenhurst officials say other municipalities have been pitching in to help dig out — resources from Peel and Simcoe are already on scene, while others from Vaughan will arrive Monday.

"Additional resources are expected, and we will share more on this later," the post on the town's website reads. "The intent is to get roads open to at least one lane."

Power outages are still an issue in the region because the main Hydro One line that connects the south end of the community is still without power, the town says. 

"There are downed lines throughout the community and utility workers are doing their best to get to them. It takes time," the update reads. "Navigating snow covered roads and obstacles is limiting response efforts."

Town workers and contractors are working on cleanup, the statement continues, but people have been going beyond the hours they are safely allowed to work and have had to stop to rest at times.

The town says it is working with relief agencies to provide support for residents and is reminding people to keep snow away from furnace vents and avoid removing snow from roofs, unless you face "a critical situation.