The 98 Ice Storm

[Red Green]

I always was a bit of a worrywart-boyscout-independent type growing up....the Cold War didn't make me any more laid back....but the Ice Storm that hit Ontario Quebec & New Hampshire Maine maybe even Vermont really drove it home to me.
Some areas were without grid power for 2 weeks and according to some sources we were That Close to having no grid power til summer in some areas.
Some ingenious solutions were used like one town in Quebec using a Diesel Electric train engine to power the local community centre... it was close enough to the tracks to allow low effort hookup, another town using the propane powered car wash to supply hot water, and one local man here rigged a 12 volt dc motor to his bicycle to charge 12 volt car batteries for light,etc.
My own personal experience was pretty ho-hum....4 days with on-off grid power & an Idiot Brother that came close to torching his house with a camp stove, but that's what made me more of a "survivalist" if one can use those terms here & not get flamed!

[Belair56]

I always was a bit of a worrywart-boyscout-independent type growing up....the Cold War didn't make me any more laid back....but the Ice Storm that hit Ontario Quebec & New Hampshire Maine maybe even Vermont really drove it home to me.
Some areas were without grid power for 2 weeks and according to some sources we were That Close to having no grid power til summer in some areas.
Some ingenious solutions were used like one town in Quebec using a Diesel Electric train engine to power the local community centre... it was close enough to the tracks to allow low effort hookup, another town using the propane powered car wash to supply hot water, and one local man here rigged a 12 volt dc motor to his bicycle to charge 12 volt car batteries for light,etc.
My own personal experience was pretty ho-hum....4 days with on-off grid power & an Idiot Brother that came close to torching his house with a camp stove, but that's what made me more of a "survivalist" if one can use those terms here & not get flamed!

I survived that one in '98 bought a generator in '91 or '92 after we had a Microburst, So in the Northern Part of the state when they had a "outage" that lasted several days, I made sure the Generator was working, and indeed it was (stabil works great) I also had a 3 burner coleman stove with 3 gallons of fuel, countless cans of sauce, beans , Needless to say my wife doesnt make fun of me being prepared anymore. I was prepared but wouldnt want to go without power for 18 days again.

[roykin]

bel you from upstate ny? we went threw those storms ourselves.

[Belair56]

bel you from upstate ny? we went threw those storms ourselves.

Yes about 20 miles from Canada.

[Diesel2]

Great name OP...Yep, the Ice Storm of '98 was a doozy. I was living in the highlands of Lanark county at the time. My landlord and I had installed a woodstove that fall in my apt. It became the stove and furnace for 3 weeks of the outage. I was the guy with the lanterns, propane heater, lots of wild game dinners and host to some of those that had no idea what to do or how to cope. We had the army, helicopter fly-ins by politicians and a great team of volunteers and chainsaws to clear roads and move supplies into some of the more remote homesteads. I was able to volunteer at the village emergency supply depot...we had wool blankets donated that were still in paper bags marked 1958 Civil Defense...still have a couple..just in case!

[leadpulaski]

First off, Diesel, AWESOME AVATAR! I am a big Red and Green fan.


Back on topic, My dad was in North Idaho during the 97-98 storm and lost power for months, we were rural and not much of a priority. Luckily we had a good potato harvest and dad took an elk that year so we had plenty of reserves. He melted snow on the wood stove and had to snowmobile to town.

Where was I you ask? I was in Phoenix all winter Mom and Dad split up and we went south for the winter. To add insult Mom took the rig that had the snowplow...


I always take my Father's stories from that winter as inspiration for putting extras aside when ever possible.

[Red Green]

Great name OP...Yep, the Ice Storm of '98 was a doozy. I was living in the highlands of Lanark county at the time. My landlord and I had installed a woodstove that fall in my apt. It became the stove and furnace for 3 weeks of the outage. I was the guy with the lanterns, propane heater, lots of wild game dinners and host to some of those that had no idea what to do or how to cope. We had the army, helicopter fly-ins by politicians and a great team of volunteers and chainsaws to clear roads and move supplies into some of the more remote homesteads. I was able to volunteer at the village emergency supply depot...we had wool blankets donated that were still in paper bags marked 1958 Civil Defense...still have a couple..just in case!

Thanks! I've also been referred to as McGyver....I've done a bit of running around Snow Road/McDonald's Corners in my time, you were sure lucky to have that woodstove, I plan on moving up there in a few years & that will be my first concern.Don't know if they make a kerosene/wood combo but I'm looking into it.
Yeah, my chainsaw got a pretty good workout too,there was a lot of stuff going on that year for sure!