Blowing snow and icy conditions caused a traffic nightmare in cottage country Saturday morning as police were forced to close off several roadways, including Highway 400.
After several hours, the highway was reopened in both directions, between Highway 88 in Bradford to Maple View, in Barrie, at around 11 a.m. However, it took quite some time for the traffic backlog to clear.
Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Dave Woodford said at one point, several cars turned around and started driving the wrong way down the highway in order to escape the traffic. That created more of a safety hazard.
Police are asking people to keep their full running lights on so that other vehicles may see them better in harsh wintry conditions.
Strong winds caused heavy damage throughout Toronto. On Mount Pleasant Road, south of St. Clair Avenue, powerful wind gusts blew trees down. In the west end, some homeowners reported serious damage to their roofs and power lines.
On University Avenue, the winds blew a traffic light to the ground and toppled heavy newspaper boxes on their sides.
At King and John Streets, the high winds became a safety issue when rocks from the rooftop garden at the Bell Lightbox building were blown down to the ground. Police were forced to close the intersection for a few hours.
Winds reached 97 kilometres an hour overnight -- that's just 22 kilometres an hour short of a category 1 hurricane. Today wind gusts are expected to reach 80 kilometres an hour but the winds will die down by this evening.
No one was injured by the flying debris. Toronto Hydro says if you see downed power lines, stay away and call for help.
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