On the evening of December 12, my husband and I went to my work Christmas party at the Ridgetown Golf and Curling Club. The snow got really bad through the evening, and by the time we left to go home, the roads were drifted badly. The caterer for the Christmas party lived near us, in the Florence area, so we drove together (with our 4WD truck in front) and made sure she got in her driveway safely. Then we proceeded home and had a big decision to make.
We were scheduled to fly out of London in the morning, to go visit my brother's family in Burn's Lake, BC. But we didn't think that we'd be able to get out of our driveway or through the drifted roads by morning. This was probably around 10 p.m.. We decided to finish our preparations for the trip right away and see if we could get to London. We needed to finalize preparations at the barn for the neighbour who was going to take care of our livestock and finish the last of our packing. We also put some sleeping bags, snacks, a shovel, and other emergency items in the truck. Finally, after putting the house in order (turning off water, turning down heat), we hit the road.
The drive was certainly difficult and stressful due to the weather and road conditions, but as we got closer to London, conditions improved immensely. As I remember it, the roads and streets were clear in London and if it was snowing there at all, it was very little.
I can't remember what time we got to the London airport, but it must have been around three in the morning. I know that we didn't feel it was worth it to look for a hotel room by then. By the time we got checked in and settled in, we'd barely have any time for sleep (I like to get to the airport well before check-in time). We decided to go straight to the airport and see if we could get a bit of sleep tucked into our sleeping bags and winter clothes. I'm not going to say it was a great sleep, but we did catch some shut-eye, and by six or seven in the morning, we headed on into the airport.
The flights to Prince George, BC were uneventful. My sister-in-laws parents were on their way from southern BC to their home near Burn's Lake, so they picked us up and drove us to my brother's house. We would have arrived in the afternoon of December 13. I remember so clearly that when they turned on "The National" news that evening, the snowstorm back home was one of the first news stories shown! We learned that the snowplows and hydro crews had been pulled from the roads and that efforts were underway to rescue stranded motorists on the 402! I'm sure we had also spoken to my parents back home by this point and heard that they were completely snowed in.
My parents (age 83 and 76) were alone on their farm in Euphemia township. The roads and of course their long driveway were impassable. I think the hydro was out, because Dad had apparently been outside getting the generator set up (a PTO generator, hooked up to a tractor) in the snow. If he had fallen (by this point in his life he'd had four hip replacements), there wouldn't have been much chance to get help. Mom would not have been able to get him up and back inside and I don't know how any of the neighbours could have made it through the snow to reach them. Fortunately, he finished up outside and got back in the house safely. The generator would have been needed, because their only heat source was electric baseboard heaters. Once he got back indoors, they stayed in and rode out the event just fine.
When we got back to Ontario about a week later, we heard many harrowing stories from our neighbours. But our friends thought it extremely hilarious that we slept in our truck in the airport parking lot! I thought that part was a memorable adventure, albeit, something that would only be fun for a very short period of time!
Looking back, I remember being so thankful that my parents and neighbours made it through the storm safely and being so happy for all the help that people gave each other at that time. There were many stories in the media about how people, businesses, and organizations helped those in need that week. But our own story was one of escaping the Lambton Snow Emergency, just in the nick of time!
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