Ice Storm 1998 - A Look Back

And what better way to start this section than with a look back at the Ice Storm of 1998 - that started 10 years ago today - 5 January 1998. The people of the community, the councillors and mayor of Goulbourn Township (now a part of the City of Ottawa), the residents of Goulbourn Township, and people outside these areas and groups were pulled closely together to cope with the situation and conditions as they unfolded and progressed.

At the start, no one had any idea the power would be out of service for around a week. Some residents would have power restored just hours shy of a week. Other residents had their power go out for about a day, then return for about a day, then go out with the rest of us for the long period of time.

People pulled together to help each other and to care for and look after others. People checked in on neighbours, relatives, and friends to make sure
- they were coping adequately,
- they were staying warm,
- that houses were not becoming too cool or cold,
- that everyone had enough food, and
- to let others know people cared about them and their state of being.

Some people loaned their portable generators to others for periods of time to allow the furnace to operate and bring the house temperature closer to normal. One carried his high efficiency kerosene heater to a neighbour's house and sat with it in the house while the heater did its best to boost the temperature and give another day of time before the temperature started to come down to being really cool again.

One of the member families of Munster United Church brought their portable generator over to the church several times and allowed it to be hooked up so the furnace would operate and provide heat to maintain a reasonable temperature without approaching freezing for another few days. One of those times, with the generator chugging away, members of Munster Church gathered for a short period of worship, as evidenced by the photo.

It was reassuring to hear what our Township councillor had undertaken to arrange to provide firewood to residents with fireplaces. And having visits from military personnel to check and make certain families were coping well enough and if not to be ready to assist in any way or provide transportation to someone who could provide necessary help.

There are many stories and memories of the Ice Storm of 1998. There is still evidence of the effects of the ice on shrubs and trees in the area. The memories will not be lost for many years to come. If you're interested in a story, just ask anyone who lived through the storm. You'll hear very interesting stories of perseverance, courage, persistence, caring, and survival from people who were without power for anywhere from a week to several weeks before power service was restored. Take the time to ask and to listen. The memories are still there and still very deep.

The look of the church and surrounding trees during the Ice Storm of 1998. Note the bent over trees past the church.

Fallen branches were everywhere.

Members who braved the elements to come to church and worship in a cool building.

A view of houses in Copper Court off owlshead Road in Munster, ON. A spring photo is presented farther below for 'comparison'.

A backyard scene from a yard on Owlshead Road in Munster. In front are three seven foot lilac trees with branches touching down to the ground. In the background is a larger tree, also with a branch touching the ground.

Shrub in the foreground and an alpine current hedge show the ice covering.

View of a birch tree laden with ice. A pine tree, on the left, heavily affected with thick ice.

Perhaps a better view showing the extent of the ice coating and effect. The branches of the birch tree are heavy with ice and hanging over the power line to the street lamp. The closer trunk of the cluster is flexing past the 90 degree point and hasn't snapped. That's great flexibility.

Another view looking end on toward the ice laden branches hanging over the power wires. This view gives a much better appreciation of the amount of ice, the total weight, and the effect on the birch tree. Note the thickness and great coverage on the branches of the pine tree.

Ryan Lindsey helps to give an appreciation for the thickness and coverage of ice on their pine tree. A thick branch can be seen here in the centre of the photograph angling down toward the ground under the total weight. If you look closely, you'll see the thickness of ice covering parts of the branches is far thicker than that of Ryan's thumb.

The start of the trimming of all branches before the removal of that pine tree.

All the branches from the pine tree have been removed and stacked in a long pile. Note the pile of branches across the street by the side of the road. A similar photograph of the same houses during the Ice Storm is presented farther above.

Another perspective of the pile of pine tree branches.

The crew from the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton finishing picking up the pile at the corner of Copper Court and Owlshead Road in Munster. Of special interest to everyone who saw these crews was the size of the equipment used. There was a large volume of branches, trunks, etc. from the storm and removals afterward. There were numerous loads of the large truck hauled away from Munster alone.

Anyone who visited the dump on Trail Road after that summer will remember the long piles of vegetation refuse two storeys high, that snaked through the property. It took a long time for those piles to compost - even with the crews on site using the large loaders and heavy equipment to turn over the piles periodically.