No early spike in collision claims as result of blizzard: MPI

As a second Alberta Clipper rolls through the province, it appears that Manitobans took warnings around an earlier blizzard seriously, as Manitoba Public Insurance said while still early, they didn’t log a spike in claims when it comes to collisions, logging 520 claims during the blizzard, compared to 673 the day before. 

Tara Seel, with Manitoba Public Insurance, said while every storm is different, the blizzard that hit much of Southern Manitoba was a standard winter storm, but it’s positive that drivers seem to have taken warnings to heart.

“It’s really a good scenario all around when there’s these types of inclement weather situations, and people listen to the authorities,” said Seel.

“It speaks to the fact that people listened to the directives and they stayed home, they stayed off the road, and they stayed safe.” 

MPI says in Winnipeg, there were 394 collision claims, with Winnipeg police responding to 11 car crashes and calls for service between 5 a.m. on Thursday and 11 a.m. Friday morning.

City crews are still clearing main routes, sidewalks, and pathways, alongside backlanes to help with garbage pick up, throughout the weekend.

RCMP said there were no major collisions on provincial highways during the blizzard, with all roads in Southern Manitoba from east to west affected at one point as a result of the storm. 

“I was pretty much awake all day Wednesday and Wednesday night, I had about three hours of sleep,” said Justin Ortel, the founder of the Weather Centre of Manitoba. 

Extreme weather continues following the blizzard, and for some weather aficionados in the province, like Ortel, who says he’s had his sights on the storm since the beginning.

“That’s good for Manitobans. Because this storm hit all of the Prairie provinces, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. And in Alberta, there was a massive crash, over 100 vehicles were piled up on one of the highways in Southern Alberta, so I guess this is one of the times when Manitoba led the pack when it comes to staying safe during the winter weather,” Ortel explained.