An exceptional advisory came Tuesday morning from the ambulance company serving Montreal and Laval — stay home if you can.
Montrealers who went to bed on Monday night under a heavy snowfall warning woke up to a sheet of ice instead, making streets and sidewalks especially treacherous.
"The only reason I went out this morning is I had a dental appointment, and they make you pay if you don't show up at the last minute," Rita Captain told CJAD 800 News, as she slid her walker along Ste-Catherine St. By midday, she said it was much easier to slide the walker with the added traction of the slushy snow, but said it took twice the time to get to the dentist's office as normal because of the icy sidewalks on Tuesday morning.
The weather office cancelled the snowfall warning called for Tuesday, and overnight replaced it with a freezing rain warning. Five to 10 millimetres of freezing rain were called for throughout the Montreal area, according to the advisory.
Urgences Santé's Benoit Garneau said the ambulance service was overwhelmed with calls Tuesday, and he suggested response times may not be as quick as they would be under normal circumstances for a good part of the day.
"There are so many calls, that for sure, they will have to wait," Garneau admitted. "We're doing the best we can to respond to all the calls, but it's really hard at this time."
The ambulance service said the number of 911 calls peaked between 8:15 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, for those expecting a parcel, Canada Post said it was canceling mail delivered for the day because of the extreme conditions.
"It's important for us, obviously, to keep the delivery agents safe," said Phil Gauthier of the postal service. "And, it's also the safety of our mail itself. You don't want somebody slipping and falling, whether it's a delivery agent or a customer, and losing their mail."
—with files from Richard Deschamps and Andrew Brennan