Remembering Our 1998 Ice Storm

Twenty years ago, our part of the country was encased in ICE!

In early January we had a serious ice storm that caused power outages throughout our area - as well as in Montreal and parts of Quebec. Damage to the electrical grid was so extensive that some neighborhoods were without electricity for weeks.

Most of us had an extended winter holiday: Roads were impassable - so many trees and branches were down that roads were blocked.

All have our own memories of the ice storm.

Terry remembers the sparks and sound of crashing trees, brought down by the heavy weight of ice. I remember standing and watching the main power line behind our house - which supplies electricity to the whole block - encased in ice... wondering if it would come down. A branch of a neighbor's tree held it up - but another branch ripped down the line that went from the main line into their house, so they were without electricity for days.  Would we suffer the same fate?!

We had a tree removed when branches started to crack. It was jeopardizing the telephone and electric power lines leading to our house...

We stayed home from work and school for days...

In the midst of this, my mother was visiting us, after having spent Christmas in Dallas. It was four years after my father's death and five years before she moved to Ottawa.

The following Christmas, we gave her this book about the storm - and a "survival certificate"!

It was a tense time spent wondering if we would eventually have to vacate our home, like so many others in the city and the whole region. But in the end, we were fine. Electricity only went out for an hour or two, here and there, as hydro lines were repaired.

For anyone who wonders what life was like back then, here is a YouTube video of a television news report from 20 years ago - January 8, 1998 - Day 4 of the ice storm.