Disabled woman trapped in apartment as snow removal operations drag in Laval

Two weeks after a series of back-to-back winter storms wreaked havoc on city streets, crews are still out removing the snow.

What is an inconvenience for some, means not leaving home for one woman in Laval, Que.

Deborah Morley is partly blind and severely disabled with rhumatoid arthritis. It forced her to quit work years before retirement and mobility has always been an issue for her.

Now, the uncleared sidewalks have left her housebound.

"I have my cane or the driver takes my walker from here," she said staring at the uncleared street in the Chomedey region of Laval in front of her home.

The sidewalk has not been cleared in over a week, and the snow pushed by the plows creates a major obstacle preventing taxis or even adapted transport from picking her up.

"I've seen them clear the street, but as they're clearing the street, they're pushing the snow onto the sidewalks, and they haven't been back," she said.

Morley lives alone and sees a variety of health-care professionals several times a week. She has already missed several key appointments because she couldn't get out of her apartment.

"I'm missing physio, I'm missing occupational therapy, which is very important to me, my body, my joints, and I missed two actual doctor's appointments at the CHUM," she said.

Her limited physical condition also means that she cannot go out and socialize, leaving her isolated at home with little else to do but read and watch TV.

Morley isn't the only one affected. Her neighbours are also running out of patience.

One neighbour told CTV News that the snow-clearing mess has persisted for years and that this year has been the worst.

Morley said she emailed the city and then followed up with a 311 call.

She said the operator told her: "We'll clear it when we clear it."

Laval Mayor Stephane Boyer said he has been frustrated with the slower-than-usual snow removal and is not satisfied with the situation.

"I've been asking questions and I will keep asking questions to demand answers to see what's not working," he told CTV News.  "What we are seeing right now is that we are behind Montreal, behind other cities in Quebec. We should be going a lot faster."

He added that talks are ongoing to ensure the best snow removal services for Laval residents. 

"It should be faster, so we will be looking at it to see what went wrong, to try to find answers, and to change the way snow removal is done to make it faster," he said.

Update:

Deborah Morley contacted CTV News on Monday, Jan. 22 to say that plows past by her home on Sunday night and cleared the snow in front of her building. On Monday, she said she was heading to a physio and occupational therapy appointment.