The Blizzard of 96 Victoria B.C. by Doug Clement (originally broadcasted on Victoria Shaw Cable)

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  • Опубліковано 29 сер 2024
  • In December of 1996 the city of Victoria B.C. was hit by a snowstorm that would be remembered for years to come. This is a time line of those three days starting on Dec. 26 and ending on Dec.29 when over 4 feet of snow fell on the city. I shot this video originally while working with Victoria Shaw cable and recently re-edited it

КОМЕНТАРІ • 186

  • @MagiMystik
    @MagiMystik 8 років тому +71

    I remember it well, my father had just died and I felt like I had the weight of the world upon my shoulders. Until nature showed me its power and beauty as I looked up into the night sky. How small I felt, how lucky I knew I was just to be here. Thank You Blizzard of 96 for defusing my personal storm.

  • @rgpritch63
    @rgpritch63 4 роки тому +9

    Very pretty video but the story behind the scenes is not captured.
    As a paramedic on those days it was a nightmare. Ambulances were ineffective. We turned to the military and used their 6x6 vehicles. Myself included turned our personal 4x4 trucks into ambulances by chaining up all four tires. Many calls for help were severely delayed or we were just unable to get them out of their snowed in homes. We used snowmobiles from the forestry services as a last ditch effort to reach people. Most of us paramedics didn’t see our homes for 4 days. No change of clothes limited nutrition. I personally delivered a baby in the front seat of my truck half way to the hospital. All the while worried about my family snowed in and my wife at full term expecting our second child.
    So as pretty as it is I’ll pass on a repeat ty.

  • @mikefawkes5195
    @mikefawkes5195 4 роки тому +8

    cfax radio really came through and helped a lot of people who really needed it ..got to know my neighbours well ..it was a great time thanks for this

  • @CiaranJamesM
    @CiaranJamesM 12 років тому +19

    Ah, memories! I was 14, and we were completely snowbound in Metchosin for 7 straght days. My parents had to hike the 5km to the tiny Metchosin Store, which was miraculously open, just to get milk and eggs - which my father promptly slipped and broke all 12 of about 5 steps from home. I will never forget that year! Fingers crossed for another!

    • @seer1623
      @seer1623 3 роки тому +2

      I lived in this lovely city for twelve years. I stupidly agreed to be substitute caretaker of my apartment building while the full-time caretakers were on a ski trip during this ‘blizzard’. One of my duties was to shovel the parking lot in the rare case of snow. Oops. My roomie and I spent the entire weekend shovelling. Other tenants took pity on us and joined in. Countless cars driving by got stuck and we helped to shovel them out so they could continue on their way. We were the laughingstock of the rest of Canada, and I never had so much fun in my life.

    • @mastersamurai7683
      @mastersamurai7683 3 роки тому

      He slipped for real? Thats crazy

  • @millsinned
    @millsinned 13 років тому +11

    A few days before this storm hit our daughter brought her new husband over for a visit. He was from hawaii and had never experienced real snow in his life. We had assured him that it would likely not snow in Victoria. After all IT NEVER, EVER SNOWS IN VICTORIA EXCEPT ONCE IN A WHILE EVERY YEAR:) He rented a car and the day or two after the storm it was buried up to its windows. We had a great time. this was just truly great video. Dennis

  • @courtnayc3814
    @courtnayc3814 8 років тому +5

    I was 7 when this happened and remember how much joy I got playing in that snow. My brother jumping from our roof into the snow and us sledding down our street. I remember trucks pulling people on skies behind it and my dad spending most of the day trying to unbury his truck and make paths for people to walk on. We had to literally dig our way out of our home. I miss the snow!

  • @davidgerrard8798
    @davidgerrard8798 9 місяців тому +2

    I end up coming back to watch this every year 😆 nothing so cozy, as to watch this in a warm house when it's cold outside. Born and raised in Vic. Seeing the blue bridge takes me back instantly, to a time I'll never know again in this life.

  • @devinkline2543
    @devinkline2543 3 роки тому +2

    When I woke up and saw the snow half way up my window.. it was the most amazing thing as a 10 year old... Never getting snow to the mother load.... Was a week I'll never forget.

  • @therinx1
    @therinx1 12 років тому +4

    I was visiting from New York City and got stranded in Victoria due to this storm. I'll never forget it, the most snow i've ever seen at one time. The national guard had tanks at the supermarket nearby Michigan St. and they gave us bottled water and toilet paper (even though our pipes were frozen and the toilet didn't flush!) You couldn't see a single parked car on the block we were on, the were completely buried. The little Vietnamese market on the corner stayed open through the whole ordeal!

  • @judyhughes1731
    @judyhughes1731 10 років тому +4

    Lawdy that was a wake up call. I was working with the Auditor General on the Earthquake Preparedness Study at the time. This hit and everything had to readjust. The Island can't handle a snowfall much less an earthquake. Good came out of this. It will always be the worst blizzard I have been through - despite living in Fort Mac, Calgary, Edmonton and Halifax.

  • @data101
    @data101 Рік тому

    I cannot explain how much I like watching this footage. I can see it was uploaded in 2013, seventeen years after the blizzard. I'm here in 2023 twenty seven years later watching it.

  • @trophyYYC
    @trophyYYC 10 років тому +15

    At 2:00 - A record store! Thanks for the memories, dang I miss the nineties.

    • @abadabababadaba4774
      @abadabababadaba4774 4 роки тому

      There still are record stores in Victoria (Ditch Records) ...but I know what you mean. A+B sound...right? It dosen't seem like Boxing Day in Victoria without the lineup going in to A+B Sound. I remember by my first CD player there and CDs.

  • @hobbesthecat4551
    @hobbesthecat4551 2 роки тому +2

    Glad to see this. Made me nostalgic to what Victoria was. If it was still like this we wouldn't have moved away.

    • @Dan-nt2yb
      @Dan-nt2yb Рік тому

      A lack of blizzards made you move away? From here? Huh?

  • @canuckdybdahl
    @canuckdybdahl 6 років тому +2

    Brilliant video ! If you had been down South Fairfield way, where we lived, you would have seen abandoned cars in the middle of the road, Richardson, Fairfield Rd, Richmond Ave...All power gone. Only a lonely broadcaster on CFAX co-ordinating important messages across the city to help elderly in distress over delivery of medications etc, the landlines came in handy.... That was a storm to remember, thanks Doug

  • @roninglis3286
    @roninglis3286 4 роки тому +4

    Hi... I worked at the Community Channel in Victoria 1976 - 82. I really have to say good work. You put in one heck of a lot of effort, especially given it's likely a Umatic PortaPak. Cannot have been easy getting all over the place with that kind of gear in the snow!

  • @MrsAnyway2010
    @MrsAnyway2010 13 років тому +3

    What a terrific video! Great combination of visual and audio. Captured the stunning beauty of a Winter storm against the backdrop of our lovely city. Well done; and thank you.

  • @IsleFreeThinker1
    @IsleFreeThinker1 10 років тому +4

    GREAT video! I was living behind the parliament buildings on Superior St when the snow started to fall. I remember waking up thinking it was still dark to realize the drifts had covered my front windows. What an awesome experience!

  • @stephss
    @stephss 3 роки тому +1

    We are getting more larger snow falls on the island now. Spring thaw is quite treacherous. Thanks for posting this.

  • @lovinlife6941
    @lovinlife6941 5 років тому +4

    wow, very cool! I live in Victoria and at that time I actually had to go to the hospital and I just remember being in the back of the ambulance on the highway on the way to Vic General. It was amazing as it had been ploughed and the snow was so high I felt like I was a mouse in a maze!! It was so incredible that I will never forget it!

  • @kaitlynamira3916
    @kaitlynamira3916 6 років тому +4

    Ahh. Fond childhood memories of my brother and I I would have been just about to turn 7. Who else jumped off your balcony into all that snow? Such fun.

  • @Beanboy001
    @Beanboy001 12 років тому +2

    one of the best memorys of my child hood.

  • @KathyPerry1
    @KathyPerry1 4 роки тому +1

    Thank you, I left Vic in 1995 and I saw newspaper clippings as it happened but never got to see it like this.

  • @DaE0MooN
    @DaE0MooN 13 років тому +2

    I remember this storm!! We were snowed in for days. We had a huge driveway and it took a couple days just to shovel ourselves to the street. My sister and I would jump off our roof into the snow drifts they were so high!

  • @theAnniJoe
    @theAnniJoe 4 роки тому +1

    Thanks so much for sharing! It came up on my recommended feed today... and I surely enjoyed it. :) Victoria 13 years ago... wow!

  • @wilfcotton
    @wilfcotton 11 років тому +1

    Thanks for sending this along...I remember that December very well and have many photos to glance back in time whenever I feel like complaining about the weather...

  • @10lauset
    @10lauset 4 роки тому +3

    I had a car that was covered up to its roof during this storm. A once in a lifetime event for me in Victoria

  • @RichardCockerill
    @RichardCockerill 7 років тому +2

    well done,thanks for sharing and filming this.i was in New York at the time but i have photos my daughter took,amazing for Victoria or anyplace really.

  • @opalday5927
    @opalday5927 9 років тому +4

    It started to first snow Christmas eve that year, light flurries. I remember because my family was on our way to church and it was dark out. I was eight at the time. It was a fun year.

  • @Taltharius
    @Taltharius 10 років тому +3

    Man, I was only 3 years old when this happened, and the ONE memory that just sticks in my brain to this day is me sitting in our old white sedan while Mom is digging it out of the snow, LOL

  • @mezzoola
    @mezzoola 9 років тому +3

    Great video! Victoria got DOUBLE the snow on the flat of anywhere else on the BC coast that December. The rest of Canada never really knew that because the national weather forecasts stop at Vancouver.....really annoying. Also, note my reply to devilmaydme bellow....

  • @jjones5818
    @jjones5818 9 років тому +10

    Ah yes, the blizzard of blizzards. I had a unique view of it all you could say spending three long days in a rig tow truck. The emergency vehicles were the priority. I recall one of the dumbest recoveries where there were two reservists who had the notion that their 6x6 deuce could go anywhere. The reserves were making the rounds gathering up the elderly to transport them all to the jubilee hospital, while the loaders and backhoes were piling the snow wherever they could. This particular seen at Vancouver & Caledonia. A loader had piled snow maybe 10 ft. or more which cut off the access from Vancouver to Caledonia. But rather than reversing the truck these two reservists took a run at the pile figuring they could plow right over it. So I get there to find this troop transport truck high centered and teetering ready to roll over. The driver comes running up saying hurry please before the truck rolls. So I get out to take a closer look to find over 15 people in the back of this truck half frozen. Of coarse now we had to unload the patients but had no where to put them. We had to dig out Caledonia st. all the way from the light at Quadra, and bring in a fleet of ambulances to transport everyone to the Royal Jubilee. And then it still took and hour to get that dam truck off the mound of snow. Yes it was crazy during that time. But can you imagine being in the back for that ride? And ya know, these two tried this same maneuver about four hours later. At least they were empty this time. I remember the cop so pissed at the driver that he gave him the choice of his ticket or or a formal complaint to his CO. Every hour was a new story like this, but I shard this one because of how over the top it was.

    • @kaitlynamira3916
      @kaitlynamira3916 6 років тому

      J Jones wow what a gong show.

    • @gst013
      @gst013 3 роки тому

      Between reservists of something and 6x6 deuces, this story seems to be written in some sort of code...

    • @janshand7092
      @janshand7092 2 роки тому

      All I can think to say is "Bad, Bad Boys" Thanks for saving them ☃️

  • @jamiehamel2797
    @jamiehamel2797 4 роки тому +1

    Just barely missed it while relocating to Victoria from Ottawa. For the first 30 years, I have endured enough snow to last me a "fucking lifetime"!!!!!! I will take the rain ANY DAY.

    • @Vincent_Sullivan
      @Vincent_Sullivan 3 роки тому

      Yah??? Well I moved from Ottawa TO Victoria in October 1996. After enduring cold and snowy Ontario winters for many years I told my wife (married just a couple of years at that time) that she would like it in Victoria because it rarely snows and if it does snow, it is all gone in a day or two. You can imagine how this snowstorm went over with her! I was lucky to stay married. What this video does not mention is that this snowstorm was preceded by 2 "rainstorms of the century" and one "windstorm of the century" in the month or two before the snow storm. Wife was thinking I was an absolute nutcase for saying that Victoria had nice weather!

  • @djdestroyer
    @djdestroyer 7 років тому +2

    What a fun few days that was! I remember I was so happy because my older cousin was spending a few nights and ended up getting stuck and having to stay a few more.

  • @islandblind
    @islandblind 12 років тому +2

    I also have some vivid memories of that snowstorm. I was living in Ladysmith, a small town about 60 miles north of Victoria, at the time. We ended up with about four feet of snow, though, thankfully, we didn't have any wind to speak of during the storm. If we had, the dry snow would have drifted to the rooftops! Even so, it was incredible. Mostly, I remember my dad's sardonic comment re. global warming, made at the height of the storm, while clearing the driveway.

  • @MultiCgp
    @MultiCgp 9 років тому +2

    Stuck in Chilliwack for 3 1/2 days due to hwy. closures. Was freaking out on hearing there was 5 - 6 feet of snow (an exaggeration but not quite) falling in Victoria. What condition was my house & back patio in??? My poor house sitter {may she rest in peace :( } had to literally climb over my parked car to get into my place to feed my cats. I was away for Christmas in Kamloops.

  • @michelletothill8551
    @michelletothill8551 4 роки тому +4

    Interesting to see again. Also seeing all the stores that hare no longer. A&B Sound M&S and more. We were happy to have a wood stove and did not leave the house for 4 days. Remember how greenhouses collapsed? Was this the time the Pearkes Rec Centre had their roof collapse?

    • @ghostinthemachine4784
      @ghostinthemachine4784 4 роки тому +1

      Yes, this was the storm that collapsed a section of the roof over one of the rinks at Pearkes. Luckily, I don't believe anyone was injured. If I remember correctly, it happened overnight when no one was there.

  • @lenkapenka6976
    @lenkapenka6976 10 років тому +6

    Remember this so well.. it was amazing. We were snowed in for a while and had to shovel the snow off our roof in case it collapsed! Islandnet still worked though )))

  • @TyTystick
    @TyTystick 4 роки тому +1

    Last year in victoria had about 30 cm on the ground. I remember schools being closed for three days and my family went sledding the whole day. Although it was very difficult to walk in shin deep snow all the way there and back

  • @clauduckie
    @clauduckie 11 років тому +3

    I remember this!!! I was 7 years old and got stuck in my backyard from just charging into the snow! haha. We had a good 5 1/2 feet there, and i lost my boot until the snow melted a bit :P

    • @user-ru2xf2nv9z
      @user-ru2xf2nv9z 4 роки тому +2

      Claudeeclau i was also 7 and also got stuck in the snow because it was so high! Neighbors were jumping into it from their roof ha

  • @data101
    @data101 2 роки тому +1

    Images from this will be in archives for years to come. There is no better footage of the blizzard of '96 than right here.

  • @julialazar1801
    @julialazar1801 11 років тому +2

    This was nice to watch. It really captured the mood.

  • @hankthompson8647
    @hankthompson8647 7 років тому +1

    We moved here in 1997 ( Nov) and saw the damage to the trees at Cathedral Grove what a wonderful job they did love some snow at this time of the year

  • @mikeecho33
    @mikeecho33 13 років тому +1

    I had to go and work at the Royal Jubilee Hospital during that snow fall, no one else could really make it in

  • @dwaynewladyka577
    @dwaynewladyka577 4 роки тому

    I remember the winter of 1995-96. It was so cold. Thanks for sharing this. Cheers!

  • @erentischart4218
    @erentischart4218 4 роки тому

    I am born and raised in Victoria and I am absolutely so glad that I was not born during that snowstorm but of course like it’s 2020 and we just got about a foot of snow recently so like. And also that the fact is that it’s definitely shows that Victoria hasn’t changed in the many years since the snowstorm in 96 almost at all

  • @TyTystick
    @TyTystick 3 роки тому +1

    It’s pretty crazy how we broke records for very snowy places like Montreal and Ottawa. I guess all we need is some cold air and our rainy climate will do the rest

  • @user-rn8fn3ix5i
    @user-rn8fn3ix5i 7 місяців тому

    We were just getting off the ferry after driving home from Alberta for Christmas. The Pat Bay Highway looked like a farmer's field track, almost impassable except for the four wheel drive truck we were in.

  • @janejames9173
    @janejames9173 5 років тому +1

    Beautiful video. Thank you.❤️❤️

  • @marlenedieleman8878
    @marlenedieleman8878 4 роки тому +1

    It was beautiful looking from the inside out. Just like a painting. But a loit of shovelling!!

  • @pattipalmer2910
    @pattipalmer2910 10 років тому +4

    yes i do remember this. Was wonderful
    I had to put the antena down on my Chev S10 truck because it got to the point that we were tripping on it. :)

  • @randomvideoconnoisseur563
    @randomvideoconnoisseur563 8 років тому +4

    Love the music, perfect match

  • @briancyr9673
    @briancyr9673 3 роки тому

    So remember that! The silence. Walking down the middle of Yates street, creating a path. Watching the fortunate ones with their cross country skiis.

  • @MARILYN19481
    @MARILYN19481 9 років тому +1

    Stuck in Sooke for 2 days. Coming into town people were walking in the streets as the sidewalks were not completely cleared,

  • @chickenwarrior9991
    @chickenwarrior9991 13 років тому +2

    @canadianmetalmaggot Lots of places this would be 'nothing' except it rarely snows at all in Victoria which means next to no plows, de-icers, snow tires, ski-doos, snow-shoes, skis or anything else. People were literally trapped in their homes. Good times.

  • @kosovaproductions9338
    @kosovaproductions9338 6 років тому +8

    Here’s me 21 Year’s later praying for snow

  • @Whiterockpony
    @Whiterockpony 11 років тому +2

    I remember this storm! I miss being a kid

  • @cyph3r.427
    @cyph3r.427 Рік тому

    Of all the houses to show you show the house I was living in! Crazy...

  • @racefan32
    @racefan32 12 років тому +1

    I remember the old Warehouse food store and later Salvation Army store(Now Langford City Hall) collapsing across from where I lived, the landlords& Apartment managers had to clean off the flat roof of the Alana Apartments so it wouldn't do the same.

  • @4314musiclover
    @4314musiclover 11 років тому +2

    I was 9 yeares old and i remember it well

  • @Projoiner1
    @Projoiner1 12 років тому +2

    Remember this well, lots of fun for my family.

  • @mikaericson726
    @mikaericson726 4 роки тому +1

    At the time damage and clean-up costs were pegged at around $200 million Canadian dollars. Insurance claims of $120 million were the largest for a single event in British Columbia history.

  • @arnesahlen2704
    @arnesahlen2704 4 роки тому +1

    Heading to Cambodia for humanitarian duties, I had planned to leave Dec 26 - but happened to bump my flight up to 24th. Good thing - Vancouver Airport was closed for (I think) 4 days.

  • @doctorfuse007
    @doctorfuse007 12 років тому +1

    Beautiful job, thanks for posting.

  • @DT-dv6wf
    @DT-dv6wf 4 роки тому +1

    remember riding dirt bikes on the snowy roads for days.

  • @chrisirving8712
    @chrisirving8712 3 роки тому

    The city was sooo quite ⛅️

  • @truman5838
    @truman5838 4 роки тому +1

    For all you outside of Canada thinking "It snowed in Canada, What's the big deal? its perfectly normal". Victoria very rarely gets snow. They don't experience winter like the rest of Canada. Vancouver Island is a Rainforest. There's Palm trees there. It's a very special place. Magical!

    • @c.a.greene8395
      @c.a.greene8395 4 роки тому +1

      Its even warmer in the gulf islands between victoria and vancouver, it was 14 c on new years day!
      We were tanning on the beach!
      I have lemon trees, a blood orange, and even a couple pink grapefruit! I was picking lettuce yesterday and strawberries from my yard... Its been so mild this winter i have had to cut my grass every week!
      This region rarely ever sees snow, if it does it usually melts before it hits the ground...
      We have people who wear shorts all year, some dont even wear shoes and walk around barefoot all year!
      We complain here when it goes below 10c thats how spoiled we truly are!

    • @truman5838
      @truman5838 4 роки тому +1

      @@c.a.greene8395 So when can I move in ? Lol

    • @c.a.greene8395
      @c.a.greene8395 4 роки тому +1

      @@truman5838 sadly we have a serious housing shortage here due to all the new age hippies moving here and the retired canadians who refuse to go anywhere near the usa have taken over...
      A 200 square foot closet would cost you twice as much here than in paris, new york or tokyo
      Housing prices are so high, land has tripled in value over a very short time, our water table cant support any more tourism, ( tourist shower four times a day on average) they wake and swim in the lake, then have a shower not realizing it is the lake water they are washing off the lake water with! They shower after each activity during a ti e when we have 6 or more moths of pure sunshine! Not one drop of rain falls after spring is over until late winter begins... Our water table is so low here on this rock that the land is now being sold as recreational use only - if there is no house currently present... Who but the filly rich can afford a 3 million dollar campsite?
      I am very lucky to be among the few with proper housing, heat and running water who isnt filly rich! Eventually i too will be pushed out due to the high cost of living... 9$ for milk, 8$ for bread, even my medication was cheaper in Yellowknife NWT ! I live 30 minutes between Vancouver and victoria as the crow flys and my food and medical bills exceed that while living in canadas far north! Go figure!

    • @truman5838
      @truman5838 4 роки тому +1

      @@c.a.greene8395 Yeah but when do I move in? Lol
      I was just in Victoria for about 8 months working construction. It was a beautiful summer. Not a drop of rain for weeks at a time. I just came back to Toronto couple weeks ago. I don't like the rainy season on the island. I was homeless sleeping I parks the entire 8 months I was there. It became too cold and wet to continue doing it. It's even colder here I Ontario obviously but it's my home and I have children here. I'd love to check out the gulf islands soon though. I didn't see much of the island. I'd like to go to Tofino. But i also wouldn't mind picking fruit in the okanagan valley.
      So , you single by chance?

    • @c.a.greene8395
      @c.a.greene8395 4 роки тому +1

      @@truman5838 i am
      My husband passed away last year, my youngest son has come home to care for me... Hes driving me crazy with his 'whens dinner mom? ' shit!
      'Dinner is when you make it' i tell him, im done being someones house wife, this is my time now!
      I too am originally from Ontario, Brantford to be exact but i hae lived in T. O., Ottawa, pickton ( thousand islands beaches) and even in trenton close t the base CFBTrenton
      Do you hunt? Fly fish? I am a hunter and i worked for a hatchery for many years in the deep bush 156km past were the road ends... Canoe only waterways, i love the bush, the far north too and i feel like going back to tuck NWT.... Any man or woman that gets with me had better know how to hunt... Or fly fish in the very least!

  • @BLACKFLAG4x4
    @BLACKFLAG4x4 11 років тому +1

    It started on the 24th
    I was working that day and had to drive to Salt Spring that night, but the time we got off the ferry the road where closed.

  • @1wvanderstam
    @1wvanderstam 12 років тому +1

    A beautiful vidio, I sure do miss Victoria..

  • @Mayaraschad
    @Mayaraschad 9 років тому +1

    Nice video, but here on the Peninsula, the damage to all the greenhouses, and the boats and boathouses that were broken.
    and leaking roofs, damaged trees,etc. wasn’t very picturesque.

  • @dalebriggs7474
    @dalebriggs7474 4 роки тому +1

    I remember walking with our Norwegian Elkhound, Bergen, along Beach Drive after attending a house party in the Uplands on New Years Eve-we walked in single file through tons of snow back to our home near Estevan Village-it was so beautiful and quiet,around 1 AM-not a soul around!

  • @brianjames5552
    @brianjames5552 10 років тому +3

    I was so glad I still had cross country ski's!!! Made some good money shoveling roofs off lol

    • @c.a.greene8395
      @c.a.greene8395 4 роки тому

      Best way to clear a roof is to use a rope and a horse shoe... Tie the horse shoe to the rope and throw it over the roof, then two people, one on either side walk holding the rope tight and knock the newly fallen snow right off the roof!
      Doesnt work if the snow has been sitting too long though, must be done asap to work

  • @briancullum8361
    @briancullum8361 Рік тому

    You folks need to live in the snow belt of BC. I don't think most of you have ever endured a 4.5 ft overnight snowfall such as I did as a kid. This from the interior of BC's snow belt.

  • @darlenetait1369
    @darlenetait1369 7 місяців тому

    We lived in Gordon Head and had 2 couples over for dinner…they had to stay for 3 days before we could get out!

  • @4314musiclover
    @4314musiclover 12 років тому +1

    I was 9 years old when this toke place

  • @wumao_gang1020
    @wumao_gang1020 Рік тому

    Happened the time my parents first immigrated to Canada they thought it snowed that bad every year

  • @melissachadwick3883
    @melissachadwick3883 Рік тому +1

    I remember the night before me and my friend Jackie went to the Oyster Bar right down town by bf got snowed in up Island, a lady was brought into the hospital by skidoo to give birth (Thankfully their was a person with a skidoo)

  • @wesleywesolowski5812
    @wesleywesolowski5812 4 роки тому

    I was living in Victoria and digging my neighbors out in Victoria and Esquimalt area and my younger brother was also digging out Victoria via of local reserve units including naval base in Esquimalt was on state of emergency orders.

  • @phoenixman8569
    @phoenixman8569 12 років тому +1

    i remember that year i live in nanaimo and my car was buried just like one at the 4:59 point of this video it took me over an hour and a half to dig my car out.

  • @sooke54
    @sooke54 3 роки тому +1

    We had deer in our carport out in Sooke. The snow was too deep for them to walk. Thank God the power didn't go out. I remember how great CFAX was, relaying information and updates on how different areas were coping. CHEK TV was useless, just regular programming.

  • @germenjam
    @germenjam 12 років тому +1

    i lived there when this happen three day completely close !!! Trippe

  • @luvvegas632
    @luvvegas632 8 років тому +1

    This was 4yrs that my dad passed December 1992

  • @kodimacneil6558
    @kodimacneil6558 3 роки тому

    I was 9 at the time remember diging tunnels under the snow ❄️

  • @royd5323
    @royd5323 3 роки тому

    Was living in north Vancouver at this time. We had a good dump also. Spent the better part of a day with my 2 yr old son driving around, pulling out vehicles with my 4X4. At $5 a pull, dam made good money that day! Lol, thanks for the memory.

  • @donkey76
    @donkey76 10 років тому

    So nice that someone made a video to remember this. Just want to point out though that 4 feet of snow shouldn't cripple a capitol city. Just look at Edmonton.....They call 4 feet of snow a beautiful summer day.

    • @dposcuro
      @dposcuro 9 років тому +2

      Why shouldn't it? Victoria gets snow of this magnitude...once in every...100 or so years. A decent 1+ foot dump happens roughly every 20. It would be economically irresponsible to maintain a fleet of equipment, drivers, and other items necessary to deal with this rare circumstances.
      Comparing Victoria to Edmonton as an example is like comparing a duck to a salmon: it makes no sense. Edmonton gets snow like this nearly every other year, so it makes economic sense to be prepared for it. Just like it does anywhere else that actually gets an average snowfall that accumulates to over two feet. Victoria gets an average annual snowfall of 13 inches, spread out over six months, from October to March. Most of it comes in single days of less than an inch of snow.
      Living here, I am glad we do not waste tax money on maintaining the equipment and personnel to handle 3+ foot deep snowfalls. It just doesn't make sense.

    • @mezzoola
      @mezzoola 9 років тому +1

      Ya, let's remember Victoria doesn't have the equipment to deal with this type of event. Even when it snows a little it's more hazardous here because of the dampness (makes black ice, rather than dry Edmonton) and we just don't have the equipment to get to all the streets because snow is a special event here, not a way of life. Therefore it's generally not the drivers fault, but the conditions and lack of equipment that cause the issues.

    • @dwaynestrohm887
      @dwaynestrohm887 9 років тому +1

      mezzoola
      I believe Victoria had also very recently sold the bulk of their snow removal equipment as they had no need for it. Whoops.

    • @donkey76
      @donkey76 9 років тому

      Dwayne Strohm Finally someone did there research to understand my comment. The equipment was there and was sold. The ancillary operating budget and associated expenses were still on the books and pulled from taxpayers money. It was reported after the fact and buried in govt beauracracy. We still to this day have an excessive dollar value in our budget for snow removal yet no equipment or operators. The money is shrouded and funnel ed to other operations. Welcome to the joys of politics.

    • @jackpontiac52
      @jackpontiac52 4 роки тому +1

      We have never gotten 4 feet of snow in one day in Edmonton. November 1942 we got around 2 feet of snow. US corps of Army Engineers plowed Edmonton Streets that time. They used their equipment destined for the Alaska Highway construction to plow our streets.

  • @chantaljacques7664
    @chantaljacques7664 7 років тому +1

    Superb!

  • @brm6578
    @brm6578 4 роки тому +1

    Most snowfalls here I can handle with the leaf blower... or wait two days and it’s melted...

  • @trinitytwo14992
    @trinitytwo14992 4 роки тому +2

    This happens every other week in Ottawa." I stand corrected, Dustigenes pointed out the lack of snow removal equipment and the city locked down for over a week. They should have fired all the city councillors who voted to sell the equipment.

    • @dustigenes
      @dustigenes 4 роки тому +2

      Except they sold our snow removal equipment years ago and many streets were shovelled out by the people who lived on them. There were no police, firetrucks or ambulances running for over 24 hours, then Esquimalt police got together a few skidoo's so they could help some of the worse. It was three to four days before the was a taxi or a bus available. The street I lived on took over 2 weeks to get traffic through. Many areas were impassable for a week or more. Yes others cities deal with this (I'm from Sask) but they are used to dealing with it and have the means to get through it. Half that people here have summer tires and can't drive in 6 inches, left alone 4 feet! The size of Victoria at that time, it should have been up and running in a few days, not weeks. I found it fun and interesting, but others not so much.

    • @trinitytwo14992
      @trinitytwo14992 4 роки тому +1

      dustigenes Wow I had no idea, that is rediculous. Even Toronto called in the Army to clear the streets after one storm, why wouldnt they do that in Victoria?

    • @dustigenes
      @dustigenes 4 роки тому +2

      @@trinitytwo14992 We have a navy base in Esquimalt and they had enough equipment to get started, but not enough to do the city. The army would have to get here, and since we are on an island, that was not going to happen quickly, (airport closed, I don't think the ferries were running as staff couldn't get there) plus again, no equipment. Island life is different, we were lucky in one way, most of us had left over Xmas food, so just hunker down and wait it out.

    • @dustigenes
      @dustigenes 4 роки тому +1

      The reason they sold the snow removal equipment was two fold. First, we rarely get more than a few inches at a time and most years nothing. Second the up keep, the equipment needs to be maintained and housed, taking up resources that are needed for other things. The bits of snow we get are almost always gone in 2-3 days and in the 30 years I have been here, that was the only time the city was so cut off. It's a paradox, yes when you need it, you do, but at what price? No one died, that I'm aware off, and it could be another 100 years before that happens again, if ever. How much money can you invest in the what if? Ottawa, they have to spend the money, so does most of the rest of Canada. Victoria is a bit different. Most people seemed to take it in stride for about 4 days, then some got a little testy...

    • @trinitytwo14992
      @trinitytwo14992 4 роки тому +1

      dustigenes thanks for the insight, lets hope its another 30 years before it happens again All the best to you for 2020

  • @kevinparker7953
    @kevinparker7953 6 років тому +1

    My daily driver then was a motorcycle and I used it to get around during this storm. No shit.

  • @jennalynnheaslip5984
    @jennalynnheaslip5984 11 років тому +1

    Wow I forgot about that til it showed up

  • @BL-rb7jm
    @BL-rb7jm 3 роки тому

    I wonder if snowmobile sales went up LOL I'd be out there with my Cross Country Skis

  • @gregm4159
    @gregm4159 4 роки тому +1

    I was there for that storm

  • @Mr.HospitalityPresents
    @Mr.HospitalityPresents 4 роки тому +4

    Hope it Snows like this again.

  • @canadianmetalmaggot
    @canadianmetalmaggot 13 років тому +1

    @canadianmetalmaggot
    hahaha yeah i know, i actually originated from the island, lived in campbell river for quite a few years, snow is a big deal there, but now that i live in the north, i see what a real snow sotrm is lol

  • @snortieshag2248
    @snortieshag2248 4 роки тому +1

    I remember shoveling for days making money and it was just trails through the middle of the road

  • @steveferguson2916
    @steveferguson2916 7 років тому +1

    we are due for another storm 1996 winter snow storm 2006 wind storm 2016 ???? what's in store cheers steve ps l worked 3 day's through the 96 snow storm at mayfair towing pulling police cars and ambulances out to keep them rolling yikes

  • @macm3081
    @macm3081 4 роки тому +1

    Hilarious that this is called a blizzard. I grew up in calgary alberta and know what a real blizzard is like.

    • @GPz84
      @GPz84 3 роки тому

      From Halifax, agree with you. When you can't see your hand in front of your face, that's a blizzard.

  • @thorin5591
    @thorin5591 4 роки тому +1

    Burnaby where we got that storm in February of 2019, 2016 November, and February 2018.

  • @guyfaux900
    @guyfaux900 2 роки тому

    Working at what used to be coffee Max that night. The dishwasher said I bet it doesn't stop snowing I said that never happens never has happened it's not going to happen.
    Think I was wrong a little bit. LoL

  • @abefroman3903
    @abefroman3903 3 роки тому +1

    6:38 doesnt make sense if that is the wharf st keg where is the inner harbour

  • @c.a.greene8395
    @c.a.greene8395 4 роки тому +1

    My father and i used to joke about how easy it would be to rob every single bank in downtown victoria during the storm due to the lack of knowledge by officers and other victorians who have no clue how to drive in snow!
    Why all it would take is two well oiled snow mobiles and some pull behind sleds to carry the money... You could have rode up one side of the street with each and robbed every single bank all the way up doglas st!
    Believe it or not many banks were open but had only one or two employees that made it in due to conditions, making robbing thrm extremely easy if one was so inclined... Besides it was private citizens with good 4x4 trucks who were driving the police and ambulance attendants around, they were so under staffed... It would have been like taking candy from a baby and the snow fell so fast your tracks would have been covered instantly...
    Next time...

    • @semnijespar587
      @semnijespar587 4 роки тому

      Um...

    • @c.a.greene8395
      @c.a.greene8395 4 роки тому

      My dad liked puzzles, for him it was a game to find security leaks, ways the system could be exploited in the future to make for better emergency plans within large corporations, like banks. He was retired, but it was just something he noticed and would comment on.
      Some canadians get a little cabin fever from being indoors for so long, besides who here has another 100 years to put in waiting for the next storm??