To the editor,
I have just read your puff piece about the pleasures and excercise benefits of the recent falls of snow, which knocked out power here at Canim Lake for 28 hours Jan. 1 to 2 and created havoc on our roads and power grids for over a week. Some people in the South Cariboo were without power for up to five days.
Home support workers were driving around at all hours in up to a half a meter of snow on the Eagle Creek Road at times and in many cases could not reach their clients.
Hydro crews have been out in cold, crummy and perhaps even dangerous conditions, for over a week, clearing heavy snow and fallen trees from downed lines to restore power.
Dawsons’ crews have been working dozens of hours of overtime keeping the main roads open. They have even hired local contractors to try to keep the side roads open.
Since Dec.10, because I cannot clear my driveway myself, I have had my driveway cleared six times to keep it open so my home support workers and paramedics can reach me. That is not cheap.
I choose to remain in my own home for as long as I can, so don’t misunderstand me, I am not complaining about having to pay a price for it.
What I want to do, is to praise our Hydro workers, our road crews and home support workers, for the way they are working to mitigate the storm emergency, and it is an emergency for many people, and I think your newspaper should also be doing that and not writing puff pieces about the pleasures of being outside shovelling snow!
Yours truly,
Gordon Kellett,
Canim Lake