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As temperatures continue to hover below freezing, the Snow Angels have also been busy using salt provided by the city to help keep sidewalks safe.

Between Dec. 5 and 11, the city received 108 requests for help to clear sidewalks. And during the most recent snowstorm, the call centre got 1,540 snow-and-ice-removal inquires. During the same period from Dec. 5-12 the previous year, the city received five.

Lorraine Logan, president of the Council of Senior Citizens Organizations of B.C., said the recent winter weather has been tough on seniors. She implores people to clear their sidewalks, so the elderly can have a safe passage. She loves the idea of the Snow Angels helping out seniors and the disabled.

“I think it is a good idea,” she said. “It is neighbour helping neighbours. It is a nice gesture and lovely what these people are doing. I’d like to see more of it elsewhere.”

Logan said a slip on the ice can be disastrous for a senior.

“Seniors are afraid of the ice,” she said. “As you age you don’t have that muscle strength to hold you up if you slip. Some seniors can end up being homebound, afraid to come out in this weather.”

The older people get, the more brittle their bones become, notes Logan.

“If you are in your 80s and break your hip, you often don’t have a good chance of coming out of the hospital,” she said. “It (the weather) is really, really scary out there right now.”

According to the weather office, on Thursday Metro Vancouver is going to remain sunny and cold, with Friday also sunny and a temperature down to -4 C. Saturday will warm-up to about -2, and Sunday the temperature will hover at the freezing mark, with a few flurries. Monday there is also a chance of more flurries.

The cold has also significantly reduced the avalanche hazard for folks going into the backcountry for ski-touring and snowmobiling.

jcolebourn@postmedia.com

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