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Residents are digging out of record-breaking snowfall in Newfoundland, Canada

A record-breaking snowfall in Newfoundland, Canada, has left residents with the enormous task of digging themselves out of piles and piles of snow. St. JohnR...
APTOPIX Canada Blizzard

A record-breaking snowfall in Newfoundland, Canada, has left residents with the enormous task of digging themselves out of piles and piles of snow.

St. John’s International Airport recorded 76.2 cm (30 inches) of snow Friday, according to Environment Canada, breaking the previous daily snowfall record set on April 5, 1999, of 68.4 cm (26.93 inches).

Footage from the area this weekend showed residents digging themselves out of deep of snow covering streets and cars.

Among those residents was Lola Parsons. She walked out to her car on Saturday morning but was surprised to find it wasn’t completely covered in snow, she said in a video shared on Twitter. That’s because she forgot to roll her window up, and several inches of snow had piled inside.

“It was so chaotic she forgot to put it back up” on Friday as she was pulling into her driveway, Parsons’ son, Kenny Sharpe told CNN.

But his mother took it in stride, Sharpe said, as is apparent by her laughter in the video.

“A good laugh this weekend during a trying time in this weather,” Sharpe said.

Of course it’s not a laughing matter for everyone. A state of emergency remained in effect for parts of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador on Sunday morning, including St. John’s and Paradise.

St. John’s officials still wanted people to stay off the roads, but lifted some restrictions Sunday morning, allowing gas stations to open and pharmacies to open from noon until 7 pm.

On Saturday, CNN news partners CBC reported that the federal government had approved the province’s request for assistance.

“Whatever assistance we have available and we can mobilize on the ground will happen,” Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan, who’s also Member of Parliament for St. John’s.

The Canadian Armed Forces announced it was planning a response to the “unprecedented winter storm.”

“Our expected tasks will be to assist with snow removal, provide residents with transportation to warming or emergency centers, and ensure the elderly and those with health concerns are cared for,” the CAF said in a statement on Facebook.

“We stand with Canadians in their time of need,” it said. “Your community is also our community.”

More snow is on the way, CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar said.

It was snowing in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick on Sunday morning, but that system was expected to move east into Newfoundland and Labrador Sunday evening and into the overnight hours.

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