Vancouverites angry at slow snow response again

Vancouverites are directing their red-hot rage at city officials after another dump of snow and freezing rain made the region's morning commute chaos once again.

• Snow, slush and rain messing up morning commute, closing campuses

Two weeks ago a snowstorm threw Metro Vancouver into chaos for the Monday morning commute, with city officials blaming the weather forecast. When a second snowstorm hit the following Monday municipalities were better prepared.

But this morning when an overnight snowfall left the streets and sidewalks a mess once again, many residents took to social media to criticize their municipalities for not clearing them in a timely manner.

While some university students were secretly rejoicing after the snowstorm forced the cancellation of exams this morning, Twitter user @Caudifer likened the City of Vancouver's snowstorm response to an exam they had forgotten to study for.

'We got slammed'

In response, the City of Vancouver's deputy general manager of engineering Cheryl Nelms told CBC's The Early Edition the city was doing everything it could to clear the snow.

But she admitted the snow was more than what was expected.

"The crews were up. We were ready. It was really clear yesterday right through the late evening. We got slammed between 3 and 6 a.m.," she said.

"It was a lot more than what was forecasted. It was forecasted to be rain and it was snow."

CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe disagreed, and said city officials had a lot of lead time on this weather event.

"Environment Canada was sending out a heads-up to city officials for a very disruptive snow to rain event for today as early as a week ago," she said. "They also issued a special weather statement for the event last Friday."

"We knew that we were going to get a lot of snow on Sunday followed by a warm-up and rain for Monday. That always equals a big mess on the roads for us."

Clearing the roads isn't the only issue today. The City of Vancouver had to contend with water main breaks due to the cold temperatures.

City crews are also closely monitoring the water catch basins for flooding, Nelms said, as the snow and slush melts as warmer temperatures arrive this afternoon.

With files from The Early Edition

To listen to the interview, click on the link labelled City of Vancouver's snowstorm response