A January thaw
Montrealers wake up with their windshields sheathed in ice and sidewalks like skating rinks.
 
Broadcast Jan. 5, 1998 (Radio, 2:35)
Listen to the Clip:  Home > Disasters and Tragedies > The Ice Storm of 1998 > A January thaw

The Story

On Jan. 5, 1998, Montrealers wake up with windshields sheathed in ice and sidewalks like skating rinks. During the night, plummeting temperatures turned the January rain to freezing. Environment Canada warns that ice pellets and more freezing rain are on the way for southwest Quebec. It's -8 C but the forecast says it will warm up substantially.

On CBC Montreal's morning radio show, the weatherperson predicts a January thaw, lasting two or three days. Host Dave Bronstetter is looking forward to the milder weather.

Did You Know?

• Freezing rain forms a veneer of slippery ice when it hits colder surfaces, such as car windshields, power lines and sidewalks.
• On the first day, forecasters didn't realize an ice storm was on the way. In general, meteorologists have difficulty accurately forecasting freezing rain because for precipitation to freeze, conditions must be perfect — a layer of air above 0 C, wedged between layers of air below 0 C.
• The ice storm lasted from Jan. 5 to 10, 1998.

Credits
Medium: Radio
Program: Daybreak
Broadcast Date: Jan. 5, 1998
Host: Dave Bronstetter, Reporter: Bill Horrocks
Duration: 00:02:35

Storm becomes severe
Quebec and eastern Ontario have now been suffering through three days of violent weather.
 
Broadcast Jan. 7, 1998 (Television, 3:51)
View the Clip:  Home > Disasters and Tragedies > The Ice Storm of 1998 > Storm becomes severe

The Story

Tonight a glaze of ice covers Montreal. It's been like this for three days in Quebec and eastern Ontario; an unusually long time for an ice storm to last. And the forecast predicts 35 more millimetres of freezing rain for tonight. So far, two people have died because of the storm. Several others, who are depending on propane-powered generators to stay warm, suffer from carbon monoxide poisoning. Emergency hydro crews have yet to restore power to 400,000 homes.

The crews break off thick layers of ice encasing power lines. They also repair tall electrical pylons that have fallen under the weight of sheaths of ice. Blackouts even occur at emergency shelters, where many find refuge from their cold, dark homes. Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard says he and his family may have to leave their blacked-out home in Outremont, Que. tonight for temporary accommodations.

Did You Know?

• The electrical pylons were built to withstand 15 millimetres of freezing rain. Montreal received over 100 millimetres during the storm.
• Wooden hydro poles cost $3,000 each.
• On Jan. 7, 1998, Hydro-Québec's emergency crew of 2,000 workers failed to restore much of the electricity grid because they couldn't keep up with the copious freezing rain.
• Any restored lines risked further damage because meteorologists saw more freezing rain coming.

• Warm air from the United States created heavy flooding in Quebec's Eastern Townships and forced more than a hundred people from their homes.
• The ice storm was associated with El Niño, an irregular southward current from the Pacific Ocean. El Niño's lingering high pressure system in the Atlantic caused the ice storm to last unusually long. The extreme weather phenomenon also created an uncommonly warm winter with little snow in Western Canada that year.

Credits
Medium: Television
Program: The National
Broadcast Date: Jan. 7, 1998
Host: Peter Mansbridge, Reporter: Mark Kelley
Guest(s): Lucien Bouchard, Denis Larochelle
Duration: 00:03:51

Christmas card front yard
Outside of Susan Johnson's front window, a silvery veneer of ice covers her mature trees.
 
Broadcast Jan. 8, 1998 (Radio, 4:25)
Listen to the Clip:  Home > Disasters and Tragedies > The Ice Storm of 1998 > Christmas card front yard

The Story

Outside of Susan Johnson's front window, it looks like a Christmas card. A silvery veneer of ice covers her mature trees. She lives in rural Old Chelsea, Que., a town east of Ottawa in the Gatineau Hills. Even though the view is beautiful, her patience is wearing thin. She and her family have been living without electricity or water for three days.

Johnson and her children spend most days at the local gym where they swim and take showers, returning in the evening to lots of "negotiations around candles" and to sleep on mattresses by the fire. But today, a large tree in their yard dangerously crashed onto the power line, blocking the driveway; their exit.

Did You Know?

• On this day, the government declared a state of emergency and called in nearly 16,000 army troops. For 10 days, the soldiers delivered supplies, helped hydro crews and removed snow and ice in eastern Ontario and southern Quebec. Some troops stayed until Hydro restored power to the final residents in early February.
• The deployment was Canada's largest-ever during peacetime.

• During the storm, millions of residents moved to shelters, shared meals or lived temporarily with friends or family.
• Crowded shelters increased the spread of influenza and an outbreak erupted at hospitals. Shelters began mandatory flu shots.

Also on January 8:
1947: Toronto Maple Leafs' Howie Meeker ties an NHL rookie record when he scores five goals in one game against the Chicago Black Hawks.
1948: William Lyon Mackenzie King becomes the Commonwealth's longest serving prime minister, with 7,825 days in office. He retires later in the year.
1982: Statistics Canada announces that Canada's jobless rate at the end of 1981 is 8.6 per cent, matching a post-war record low.
1990: Canada formally joins the Organization of American States as its 33rd member.

Credits
Medium: Radio
Program: This Morning
Broadcast Date: Jan. 8, 1998
Host: Avril Benoît
Guest(s): Susan Johnson
Duration: 00:04:25

Tree casualties of the storm
A tree pathologist says Montreal is going to look a whole lot different.
 
Broadcast Jan. 9, 1998 (Radio, 7:24)
Listen to the Clip:  Home > Disasters and Tragedies > The Ice Storm of 1998 > Tree casualties of the storm

The Story

Pierre Emil Rocray, a tree pathologist at Montreal's tourist-attracting Mount Royal Park, says the city's going to look a lot different because of all the tree casualties. Rocray and Luana Parker, a producer at CBC Radio's This Morning take a dangerous walk in the park to assess the damage. They find a dreadful scene of fallen trees and branches. It looks like a hurricane ripped through the park.

They carry an umbrella to protect them from falling branches. One inch of ice over a tree branch strains it by forcing it to support three or four times its original weight. Wood cracks and icy branches crash onto the umbrella.

Did You Know?

• The ice storm destroyed millions of trees.
• The damage devastated maple sugar bush farmers. Sixty-five per cent of trees in areas affected by the storm were destroyed causing syrup production to fall 15 per cent. Some lost their sugar bush permanently.

Credits
Medium: Radio
Program: This Morning
Broadcast Date: Jan. 9, 1998
Host: Avril Benoît, Reporter: Luana Parker
Guest(s): Pierre Emil Rocray
Duration: 00:07:24

Good Samaritan in LaSalle
Giselle Van Lieu whips up dinner by the light of several candles.
 
Broadcast Jan. 9, 1998 (Television, 3:11)
View the Clip:  Home > Disasters and Tragedies > The Ice Storm of 1998 > Good Samaritan in LaSalle

The Story

Giselle Van Lieu whips up dinner by the light of several candles in south central Quebec. She's conserving the hydro grid's volatile energy even though she's one of the few who's had electricity, heat and hot water all week. Van Lieu has set up a makeshift bed and breakfast for 15 people — family, friends and anyone in need. She cooks, cleans and lodges them all with her own money. There's a big spread of food across the table and she says, "money is there and it's gone but there are other things that are more important."

Did You Know?

• This day (Jan. 9, 1998) was the fiercest of the storm. By the day's end, three million people had no power.
• Transportation became nearly impossible. Montreal’s Metro was shut down, toppled hydro lines blocked roads and bridges were closed due to falling ice.
• By 3 p.m., filtration plants without generators had only a two-hour supply of treated water left. For the next 48 hours, residents were under a boil-water advisory. Some had no water at all.

Credits
Medium: Television
Program: The National
Broadcast Date: Jan. 9, 1998
Reporter: Susan Bonner
Guest(s): Giselle Van Lieu
Duration: 00:03:11

Triangle of darkness
Montreal's entire south shore still lives without electricity.
 
Broadcast Jan. 10, 1998 (Television, 3:01)
View the Clip:  Home > Disasters and Tragedies > The Ice Storm of 1998 > Triangle of darkness

The Story

On Jan. 10, 1998, the ice storm lingers. Montreal's south shore, or the "triangle of darkness," fares the worst. The entire area still lives without electricity. In the town of Beloeil, the last gas station with fuel just ran out. People using generators to heat their homes become tense and worried. Dairy farmers can no longer keep their milk refrigerated and empty it down the drain. Premier Lucien Bouchard visited the local shelter today but couldn't say when the lights would come back on.

Did You Know?

• The south shore was called the "triangle of darkness" because it went without electricity for the longest. One month after the storm, some homes still did not have power.
• When the ice storm ended on Jan. 10, 1998, hundreds of transformers, 23,000 hydro poles and 80 kilometres of power lines were destroyed on the south shore.
• Hydro-Québec repairs cost $500 million and Ontario Hydro spent $120 million.

• Without power or generators, many dairy farmers had to throw out milk they were unable to keep cool. Pig farmers lost new-born piglets.
• On Feb. 7, 1998, Hydro restored electricity to the last few hundred homes.

Credits
Medium: Television
Program: The National
Broadcast Date: Jan. 10, 1998
Host: Peter Mansbridge, Reporter: Tom Kennedy
Guest(s): Lucien Bouchard, Jocelyn Gagnon
Duration: 00:03:01

Canadians generous with aid
People across the country inundate charities with phone calls asking where to send donations for ice storm victims.
 
Broadcast Jan. 13, 1999 (Television, 2:49)
View the Clip:  Home > Disasters and Tragedies > The Ice Storm of 1998 > Canadians generous with aid

The Story

People across the country inundate charities with phone calls asking where to send ice storm donations — blankets, food, money. A Toronto radio station collects toothpaste and diapers. In Halifax, the United Church raises $2,000 for a grocery store shopping spree. One doctor donates his two generators, and one of New Brunswick's neediest towns, Charlo, sends cords of firewood.

Did You Know?

• Students from agriculture schools throughout the Maritimes travelled to Quebec to help farmers with animals and damaged trees.
• In rural areas near Kingston, Ont., volunteers randomly dropped in on residents to make sure they were safe.
• The National Hockey League donated $500,000 to the Red Cross's ice storm relief fund.

• People especially scrambled for generators. There were several reports of stolen generators and retailers doubled their price.

Credits
Medium: Television
Program: The National
Broadcast Date: Jan. 13, 1999
Host: Peter Mansbridge, Reporter: Kas Roussy
Guest(s): Patrick Clarke, Janet Fryday Dorey, Colin Lockhart, Wayne McEachern
Duration: 00:02:49

'The resisters'
During the disaster, dozens of people unwilling to leave their homes are found suffering from hypothermia.
 
Broadcast Jan. 15, 1998 (Television, 8:48)
View the Clip:  Home > Disasters and Tragedies > The Ice Storm of 1998 > 'The resisters'

The Story

By Jan. 11, 1998, the storm finally subsides. During the disaster, dozens of people unwilling to leave their homes are found suffering from hypothermia and are rushed to hospitals. Psychologist Dr. Michael Spevack calls them "the resisters." One person says she wouldn't leave because of her cat. Another says, "the pipes may burst. The roof may cave in. I don't know, I want to be there when it happens." Dr. Spevack explains why victims won't leave home.

Did You Know?

• Hypothermia happens when the body fails to create more heat than it loses.
• The condition sets in when the body's temperature falls below 35 C (95 F). Normal body temperature is about 37 C (98.6 F).
• The severity of hypothermia ranges depending on how low the body's temperature falls. Fatigue and shivering set in at 35 C. At 32 C, memory and speech loss occur. An irregular pulse develops at 28 C. At 26 C, victims become unconscious, and the heart stops at 20 C.

Credits
Medium: Television
Program: Midday
Broadcast Date: Jan. 15, 1998
Hosts: Brent Bambury, Tina Srebotnjak
Guest(s): Michael Spevack
Duration: 00:08:48

Commission faults Hydro-Québec
The reasons residents went without power for so long during and after the storm are clearly stated in Roger Nicolet's commission report.
 
Broadcast April 16, 1999 (Television, 2:07)
View the Clip:  Home > Disasters and Tragedies > The Ice Storm of 1998 > Commission faults Hydro-Québec

The Story

In the end, the ice storm is blamed for the deaths of up to 30 people, causing about $3 billion in damages and leaving more than 3.5 million people in the dark. The reasons residents went without power for so long during and after the storm are clearly stated in the report submitted by Roger Nicolet's commission: The government's emergency system greatly failed, Quebecers were not adequately prepared for disaster and Hydro-Québec's power grid would have been safer if the entire system were buried.

Did You Know?

• The commission conducted 44 public hearings in two phases, receiving briefs and recommendations from individuals and organizations, such as health professionals, the government and businesses.
• The ice storm, Canada's most expensive natural disaster, cost approximately $1.6 billion, including $500 million in private property damage.
• A year after the storm, wood stoves and generators sold so quickly stores could not keep them in stock.

Credits
Medium: Television
Program: The National
Broadcast Date: April 16, 1999
Reporter: Tom Kennedy
Guest(s): Roger Nicolet, Miroslav Smereka
Duration: 00:02:07