Winter blew into the area with a gale force Nov. 18, creating treacherous driving conditions throughout much of the southern part of the province.
The highways around Whitewood were no exception as blowing snow, near zero temperatures and winds gusting up to 90 km/h caused icy road conditions. Winds throughout the province were strong with the Estevan area recording the strongest wind gust of 107 km/h.
As a result of the weather conditions throughout the day, a number of accidents occurred on many Saskatchewan highways, including vehicles hitting the ditches and a rollover of a passenger van east of town.
The rollover happened on Nov. 18 at around 2:30 p.m. approximately 10 kilometres east of Whitewood on Highway 1. The westbound 12-passenger van, which was pulling a small cargo trailer and carrying seven people, lost control on the ice before rolling into the north ditch.
Whitewood Fire & Rescue was dispatched to the scene and upon arriving found all seven occupants had been freed from the vehicle by smashing out the front windshield.
None of the occupants received serious injuries in the rollover but one passenger was transported to Broadview Hospital by ambulance for examination.
Highways all over Saskatchewan were experiencing the same driving conditions. Between 6:30 and 10:30 a.m., the RCMP Dispatch Centre in Regina received more than 25 complaints of motor vehicle collisions, including single vehicles losing control and sliding off the roadway.
Later that same day, Highway 1 west of Regina was closed for almost four hours when a single vehicle accident involving a semi blocked both westbound lanes. A rollover involving a school bus also occurred that afternoon near Tisdale. The bus lost control on the ice and flipped on its side. There were four children, ages six to 10 on the bus. The driver and children were all treated at the scene and released.
Winds throughout the day were so strong they also caused the collapse of Moosomin’s new leisure centre, which was under construction at Lloyd Bradley Park.
