Town of Crystal Beach in Ontario Crystallized in Ice After Major Storm

Houses and vehicles are covered in ice along the shore of Crystal Beach in Fort Erie, Ont., on Dec. 25, 2022. (Courtesy of Tracey Cotton)

The lakefront community of Crystal Beach in Fort Erie, Ontario, was named for its “crystal clear” water, but recently it’s been known for its ice crystals. Ice, a foot thick in places, engulfed houses and cars along the shore over Christmas.

Strong winds created large waves in Lake Erie, reportedly 10 to 15 feet high, above the break wall. The waves flash froze as they crashed against the houses.  Environment Canada issued weather warnings to most of Ontario due to high winds and heavy snowfall.

Houses along the shore of Crystal Beach in Fort Erie, Ont., are completely engulfed in ice after a winter storm on Dec. 25, 2022. (Courtesy of Tracey Cotton)

Tracey Cotton lives in Crystal Beach, which is about 20 minutes from the U.S. border. She also has an Airbnb cottage in the small tourist community right across from Buffalo, New York. The storm over Christmas weekend generated historic hurricane-force winds and whiteout conditions.

“It’s been a whirlwind here,” Cotton told The Epoch Times. On the morning of Dec. 23, the storm started with light rain, which turned into snow by 9:30 a.m. and “howling winds,” she said.

“My eyelashes instantly froze with the snow,” Cotton said. Soon, there was zero visibility; she couldn’t even see across the street.

State of Emergency

Cotton said the border was closed, as well as the Peace Bridge, because the mayor of Buffalo declared a driving ban. Across the lake, in Buffalo, at least 31 people died as the city had more than 8 feet of snowfall by Dec. 26. According to Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, 17 were found outside; 3 had cardiac events while shoveling snow; 7 didn’t have heat; 3 were found in a vehicle; and 1 died of an ambulance delay.

On Christmas day, the Town of Fort Erie declared a State of Emergency.

Cotton said her family was without electricity, so she huddled up with her daughters in front of their gas fireplace. She lit candles for light, while other residents used headlamps and flashlights. Her neighbour was not as lucky. His house went down to 10 degrees.

“He bundled up in blankets with his two German shepherds,” she said. Other neighbours tried to save their groceries by putting their food from the fridge into the snow to keep it cold.

Children play on the beach in front of houses engulfed in ice in Crystal Beach, Fort Erie, Ont., on Dec. 25, 2022. (Courtesy of Tracey Cotton)

There was also no cell phone reception.

Getting Help

On Christmas Day, the towns of Fort Erie and Port Colborne, along with the Red Cross, opened a warming shelter.

“My daughters and I went there because we were starving for a warm meal. They had cots set up to sleep if you needed, and cold and warm drinks, and outlets to charge your devices,” she said.

Cotton had her power restored after four days, but grocery stores and restaurants were still closed. “Most still didn’t have power or their power was just returning. Some people had slept at the Walmart on one of the nights,” she said.

Her employer, Apple Corporate, provided an emergency relief fund for any employee affected by the storm.

“Apple has been amazing. They either put people up in a hotel for a couple of days, or helped with re-stocking the fridge, and also provided days off that didn’t come out of allotted sick days or vacation days,” Cotton said.

“Fort Erie does see some bad snow but nothing like this has ever happened in Fort Erie,” she added.

A warming shelter opened by the Red Cross and the Town of Fort Erie, amid power outages caused by a storm, on Dec. 25, 2022. (Courtesy of Tracey Cotton)

At the peak of the outage, about 15,000 homes in the region were without power, according to Canadian Niagara Power. By the evening of Dec. 26, roughly 3,900 were without power. As of Dec. 28, 7 a.m., there were just under 800 still without power.