By Emilie Hackett, Special to the Record – The Townships was hit by winds reaching up to 80 kilometers an hour Monday, causing extreme whiteout conditions, which led to over a dozen accidents. There were also several road closures, a first in the area for the 2018 and 2019 winter season, according to Dominique Gosselin of the Ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ). “Several vehicles were stuck in snowbanks in the area,” explained Aurélie Guindon, the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) spokesperson. “Zero visibility and an abundance of snow made it difficult for tow trucks to remove these vehicles quickly. There were several collisions across the Townships area, and no particular section was spared.” See full story in the Wednesday, Feb. 27 edition of The Record.