Letters and Email
I didn't know how people would react to my personal impressions
of the Ice Storm, but I have been pleasantly surprised by the
response of people who have either heard about the storm or who
were there. I feel like I put a message in a bottle and then
threw it into the sea, never knowing where it would end up or
who would read it. Here are a few of the email's I received after
I put this site up. N.B. There is no order or date per se on
them. And I have edited them a little to fit on page. Also a
big thank you for the support and kind words to all who have
emailed me.
Thank you - you have succeeded in capturing the essence of
what it was like.
You have expressed our emotions, fears, happiness, sadness,
love, fun, exhilaration, frustration, gratitude, patience and
on and on.
I live south of Montreal, 3 miles from the US border. We have
all learned something haven't we. We lost our power for 15 1/2
days. We were lucky. A friend of mine just got reconnected on
Tuesday, yes, February 3. Hard to believe isn't it.
Congratulations - well done.
Hemmingford, QC
We can totally sympathize with your experiences. We were trapped
in our home for 3 days due to downed trees across our road. It
took 20 people , 7 chain saws and a bucket loader to clear our
road so we could get out. In order to get groceries I had my
husband's brother deliver them to the mailbox and walked out
with backpack and hardhat to retrieve our needs.
In addition after the 3 days and relief that we could finially
take our 4 wheel drive out to get supplies - we had an additional
16 days without electricity.
This put us to the test. Fortunately, like you, we had put
a generator in place over 2 years ago and also our primary heat
is woodstove. Regardless - the whole experience was difficult
- 2 jobs - kid out of school - and more importantly trying to
help neighbors.
The road we live on has 15 homes which were out of power for
16 days. Some had generators, but most didn't. Some had to leave
their homes. We did the best we could to hep support those in
need. Since we were "hardwired" into our well pump
we supplied water for several of the neighbors. We also did our
best to have people over for hot meals since we have a gas stove.
Overall the Ice Storm put mainers to the test - and for the
most part - I'm proud of the way Mainers rose to the occasion.
Their are a lot more stories than I can begin to tell here. If
you are interested in a few more stories, in a lot more detail
- let us know - we have them.
Friends from Maine
My name is Tom and I just returned home last night after working
18 hours a day for 10 days as an electric line supervisor from
New York State Electric and Gas. We were assigned to work with
a team from Hydro Quebec and worked in the Iberville and Henryville
area. I have been sent to do restoration work many times in the
past to other utilities in the northeast US. I have to commend
the people in the St Jean area for their spirit and determination
in coming through this disaster. The Hydro Quebec people were
a pleasure to work for and were always concerned for out safety
and welfare, going through the trouble of making sure we had
hot coffee and meals to keep us going in the cold weather. I
would love to hear from anyone that noticed our orange and white
trucks with the NYSEG logo on the side. I can be reached at Sniper@frontiernet.com.
Patrick,
Thank you for your reply. My heart went out to all the people
that suffered through this disaster. I hope everyone recovers.
My best to you and your neighbors. I am planning on bringing
my family through the region this summer, (only this time i will
prepare and learn some French).
Til Then,
Tom
Hello
I visited many of your pages by way of the qt-vr list. You
have documented a tremendous amount of information here. I am
very impressed.
JOOK LEUNG
Hello,
Being directly involved in the analysis of the ice-storm,
I am curious in knowing where you actually got the information
pertaining to the amounts of precipitation fallen in the Montreal
area...
Jennifer Milton Environment Canada- Scientific Services
Hi ,
These are very good pictures you have taken of the ice storm,
you can get a sense of the impact of the storm. I would like
to put a link to your site from my web page if you don't mind,
I get visitors from around the world and I think some of them
would be interested in seeing these images. Let me know if you
have any concerns, the page it would be on is: http://www.interlog.com/~oz/webcam/awebcam.html
Oz. Toronto Canada
Actually, Patrick's site (http://members.aol.com/badice98/icestorm.html)
is an amazing chronicle of the ice disaster from someone who's
obviously suffering through it. Definitely worth a visit.
Good luck,
You said no other city would survive such a crisis. But yet
less than six months previous, Winnipeg took on one of the emmense
floods ever seen this century, and hopefully never again. We
too pulled together and managed through it. We did that as a
country, not as a city. It's obvious that you made an extreme
oversight thanking your city, instead of thanking the country
for the support and the prayers we sent. Our country surrvived,
not just your city.
Check your statistics next time,
Laura and Christina
I know you are very passionate about what you do but no, I
don't care to build another section into wrinkle about disasters.
Why don't you organize such a thing and build it somewhere?
I think it would be wonderful and I will support your efforts,
with links, page templates, even mentions on Internet Radio Hawai`i!
Patrick, I lived through several ice storms and blizzards
as a kid growing up on the east coast... they happen. We survived.
You did too!
aloha
rabbett
Hi
I was waisting time cruising the net waiting for my computer
to finish rendering an animation when I stumbled across your
web site. I am also a medical illustrator (MS from the now defunct
program at Colorado State University). I really appreciated your
illustrations. Very nice. I'd love to know, what program did
you use to render them?
Also, are you done scraping ice off your car? I'm originally
from the NE USA and I know how much damage a little ice storm
can cause. I don't even want to conceptualize what happened to
you guys. 4 days of icy rain...holy cats! Give me a good old
fashioned blizzard anyday.
Good luck!
Marcia
COOL BOOK it was great and im only 11. I was wandering if you
could send it to my e-mail list.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH
First may I have permission to forward your e-mail to a few
people who will be interested and may I also post a print out
on our cork board in the institutes lifts.
I lived in Montreal during the Olympics. Do you remember at
the time there was a huge controversy over Dr Mongentauler (I
have spelt it wrong but pronounced morgentaller) doing abortions.
You may also recall Jean Drapeau (the then mayor) claimed that
"the Olympics could no more lose money than a man could
have a baby" . It soon became very clear that the Olympics
would lose money. There was a wonderful cartoon in the paper
which showed Drapeau on the phone to Dr. Montgentauler. I remember
it so very clearly.
Thank you so much for your wonderful verbal image on the ice
storm. We did see the felled towers but the thickness of the
ice was missing. (Flash I am hearing about the freezing rain
storm on the radio now. It is a long item. The death toll has
risen to 23 after a boy in Ontario died of smoke inhalation.
250,00 people without electricy or was that 250,000 homes?).
We are having vicious bush fires down south. They are very
bad but it happens occassionally. The city of Townsville has
had the most horrible flood. This is extremely unusal. They had
half their annual rainfall in one night and twice their annual
rainfall in less than four days. But to make things worse they
are being tormented by a really nasty cyclone that is hovering
just off the coast. It was a category 4 (cyclone Tracy was a
category 4 and it almost totally flattened Darwin about 20 years
ago).
Cyclone Sid (the one off Townsville) has been downgraded to
3 and after sitting off Townsville for 24 hours has picked up
speed and is heading further south. It is now expected to cross
the coast about a thousand Km north of here. Provided it doesn't
come any closer than that all we will get is rain and screamingly
freightening surf for my husband to test his nerves against.Category
4 cyclones and raging bush fires are not rare but are they happening
more often or is the population expanding and we are noticing
thedevestation more? These are questions that we would surely
like answered.
from Brisbane Australia
About 15 people requested their own copy of your e-mail. Here
is a sample of one response.
"Dear H.
Many thanks for going to the trouble of emailing those two
stories from North America. It is certainly hard to imagine what
it might be like for them when I am sitting here with a shimer
of sweat on my brow and wallowing in the airconditioning and
the relief it gives me.
I hope all will be allright with the forest and all the people
can get back to some sort of normal life in a short time.
Kind regards" Australian correspondent
Dear
Your web page is magnificent. I have sent the address off
to the earth sciences department of my son's school, to a science
magazine run by the education department and I will sent it off
to The University of Queensland and a few other places that might
be interested into your insights and images all very evocative.
The weather is just as it should be beautifully soft and warm,
29 degrees through the day and about 18 at night, like well aged
vintage port.
Brisbane Australia
I like you storm site,your stories and slant. I'm looking forward
to the
photos. In the Ottawa region we got a taste of it as well. My
son Patrick
is a lineman with Ontario Hydro, out of Vankleek Hill. He's just
now
going back on regular shifts. I put together the following poem
I thought
you might relate to.
and
I'm touched (actually somewhat overwhelmed) by your response.
I feel this
event marked me in fundamental ways. It's hard to extend beyond
the
impact, post disaster syndrome, or whatever. We will have to
move on, but
the better, psychologically, for it.
Feel free to use my poem as you see fit. Consider it my small
contribution to the great work you have underway.
Cheers.Gordon Rainey
Thanks for including my poem. I noticed another poem about
the storm on
the "Poetry Exchange" site. It was written Keith Michael
Roy Sherrard.
Hello,
I saw your web site with the pictures of your sad oak tree. We
are
producing a CD-ROM about the forest, it's soon to be released,
if you would
allow us to include your photos of your tree, it might be immortalized
forever.
Thank you - you have succeeded in capturing the essence of
what it was like.
You have expressed our emotions, fears, happiness, sadness, love,
fun, exhilaration, frustration, gratitude, patience and on and
on.
I live south of Montreal, 3 miles from the US border. We have
all learned something haven't we. We lost our power for 15 1/2
days. We were lucky. A friend of mine just got reconnected on
Tuesday, yes, February 3. Hard to believe isn't it.
Congratulations - well done.
from Maine, USA
We can totally sympathize with your experiences. We were trapped
in our home for 3 days due to downed trees across our road. It
took 20 people , 7 chain saws and a bucket loader to clear our
road so we could get out. In order to get groceries I had my
husband's brother deliver them to the mailbox and walked out
with backpack and hardhat to retrieve our needs.
In addition after the 3 days and relief that we could finially
take our 4 wheel drive out to get supplies - we had an additional
16 days without electricity.
This put us to the test. Fortunately, like you, we had put
a generator in place over 2 years ago and also our primary heat
is woodstove. Regardless - the whole experience was difficult
- 2 jobs - kid out of school - and more importantly trying to
help neighbors.
The road we live on has 15 homes which were out of power for
16 days. Some had generators, but most didn't. Some had to leave
their homes. We did the best we could to hep support those in
need. Since we were "hardwired" into our well pump
we supplied water for several of the neighbors. We also did our
best to have people over for hot meals since we have a gas stove.
Overall the Ice Storm put mainers to the test - and for the
most part - I'm proud of the way Mainers rose to the occasion.
Their are a lot more stories than I can begin to tell here. If
you are interested in a few more stories, in a lot more detail
- let us know - we have them
AOL billing
In a message dated 98-01-25 10:21:56 EST, Billing writes:
I credited your account 1 FREE MONTH due to the ice storm.
I can tell you right away that there is no way, at this moment,
to claim
that climate change had nothing OR had something to with the
storm...
You may be able to detect a general trend in extreme events in
a few
(10,20?) years but climate change is something that can be detected
using statistical methods. One single event cannot, so far, be
caracterized as "Climate change influenced" OR "Not
Climate change
influenced".
That was why it was so hard and took so long to prove witouth
any doubts
that smoking was killer!
Well, I finally got to see yor web page. Cool Dude!
Its very impressive.
Deb
About 15 people requested their own copy of your e-mail. Here
is a
sample of one response.
>
>Many thanks for going to the trouble of emailing those two
stories from
>North America. It is certainly hard to imagine what it might
be like for
>them when I am sitting here with a shimer of sweat on my
brow and wallowing
>in the airconditioning and the relief it gives me.
>
>I hope all will be allright with the forest and all the people
can get back
>to some sort of normal life in a short time.
>
>Kind regards
Thank you for your interesting page on facts and figures of
the ice
storm.
Actually, I am a grad. student at Michigan State University.
I am doing
some research on the ice storm and its aftermath. I was wondering
(or
maybe I just didn't see it!) if you had information on how much
ice
does it actually take to knock over a tree or power lines, etc.
I was waisting time cruising the net waiting for my computer
to finish
rendering an animation when I stumbled across your web site.
I am also
a medical illustrator (MS from the now defunct program at Colorado
State
University). I really appreciated your illustrations. Very nice.
I'd
love to know, what program did you use to render them?
Also, are you done scraping ice off your car? I'm originally
from the
NE USA and I know how much damage a little ice storm can cause.
I don't
even want to conceptualize what happened to you guys. 4 days
of icy
rain...holy cats! Give me a good old fashioned blizzard anyday.
Good luck!
Thank you for your reply. My heart went out to all the people
that suffered
through this disaster. I hope everyone recovers. My best to you
and your
neighbors. I am planning on bringing my family through the region
this
summer, (only this time i will prepare and learn some French).
When precipitation last for so long and is relatively uniform,
raingauges
work fine. And this is probably what was used (Environment Canada
gauges certainly, and perhaps their own if they have any).
Being directly involved in the analysis of the ice-storm,
I am curious
in knowing where you actually got the information pertaining
to the
amounts of precipitation fallen in the Montreal area...
Just a comment,
Except for Electrical Utility companies, Ice Thickness (although
more
spectacular) is not all that useful because there is no systematic
and
official measurments network that has been in place for a long
time.
Historical comparisons become difficult... On the other hand,
meteorological and climatological data have a long history (sometimes
over 100 years) and a systematic method of measurment has been
developed
to filter possible inconcistencies. Also, we did verify with
Hydro-Quebec, Hydro Ontario, the Buffalo weather office and American
companies and, according to them, the map reflects nicely the
amplitude
of the damages. The worst hit area were clearly the "Triangle
of
Darkness" (100+mm of freezing rain) and neighbouring regions
of Southern
Quebec, Eastern Ontario, Northern New York and Vermont state,
and
portion of Maine. Other areas were affected but generally in
a lesser
way (according to all groups mentionned above). Just to give
you an
example: A good portion of my family living close to the Triangle
of
Darkness got their power back only a few days ago. 90% of all
trees/poles/pylones were badly damaged/brought down! Although
ice
accretion maps and our map may not reflect all the damages, you
have to
remember also that wind and duration of below freezing temperatures
are
very important aspects of the storm... (just to name a few other
aspect).
In brief, a storm of this amplitude needs time, good science
and
reliable data to be analysed in the right way. Those calling
it the
storm of the century before doing a complete analysis have probably
used
the wording "storm of the century" quite a few times
before!!!
We consider ourself specialist in meteorological and climatological
analysis but we will not do the work we are not specialized in
(Ice
accretion measurments and analysis). According to meteorological
and
climatological history, our map shows quantity of freezing rain
that
have never been measured!
Thanks for the interest. Remember, we will always be hit by
exceptionnal
storms... We do have to remain neutral when we produce an analysis...
Sorry for the delay. We have radar images of the storm, but
instantaneous precipitation coverage images will bring little
information. In terms of rainfall amounts, it is not a spectacular
event. It is the nature of the precipitation that makes it special.
We also have been affected by the power failures and are just
starting a
more thorough analysis of the event. As a result I do not have
at this
time a useful image to provide you.
COOL BOOK it was great and im only 11. I was wandering if
you could send it to my e-mail list. THANK YOU VERY MUCH
his mother
Hello,
Thankyou very much for responding to his e-mail(qt 11 86).I hope
things are getting back to normal for you and your family.Our
hearts and prayers go out to all affected due to the bad storm.We
were very lucky here in the Niagara area.You have my permission
to give kyle the URL for your web page and i will check it out
before i let him read it.God bless you ,your family and nieghbours.
Quite an ordeal and quite a story. Thanks for sharing it.
Glad to hear you
got through it so well.
Here, the issue is hurricanes which can devastate things, but
they have to
hit just right.
Patrick: Wonderful work on the Ice Storm VR's! I think you
captured the
heartbreaking vision of stately old trees being ripped to pieces.......
and the piles of woodchips say it all. A really sad site.
mike
My complements on your web page,
Bill.
Dear Badice 98:
Thank you for a most thoughtful response to my otherwise thoughtless
comments! You are a gifted writer who obviously cares. I wish
you well.
These are very good pictures you have taken of the ice storm,
you can get a
sense of the impact of the storm.
I would like to put a link to your site from my web page if
you don't mind,
I get visitors from around the world and I think some of them
would be
interested in seeing these images.
and
Thanks for the link. It looks like you've been getting a good
response to
your site, keep up the good work.
Oz.
from Australia
First may I have permission to forward your e-mail to a few
people
who will be interested and may I also post a print out on our
cork board in
the institutes lifts.
I lived in Montreal during the Olympics. Do you remember at
the time there
was a huge controversy over Dr Mongentauler (I have spelt it
wrong but
pronounced morgentaller) doing abortions. You may also recall
Jean Drapeau
(the then mayor) claimed that "the Olympics could no more
lose money than a
man could have a baby" . It soon became very clear that
the Olympics would
lose money. There was a wonderful cartoon in the paper which
showed Drapeau
on the phone to Dr. Montgentauler. I remember it so very clearly.
Thank you so much for your wonderful verbal image on the ice
storm. We did
see the felled towers but the thickness of the ice was missing.
(Flash I am
hearing about the freezing rain storm on the radio now. It is
a long item.
The death toll has risen to 23 after a boy in Ontario died of
smoke
inhalation. 250,00 people without electricy or was that 250,000
homes?).
We are having vicious bush fires down south. They are very
bad but it
happens occassionally. The city of Townsville has had the most
horrible
flood. This is extremely unusal. They had half their annual rainfall
in
one night and twice their annual rainfall in less than four days.
But to
make things worse they are being tormented by a really nasty
cyclone that is
hovering just off the coast. It was a category 4 (cyclone Tracy
was a
ctegory 4 and it almost totally flattened Darwin about 20 years
ago).
Cyclone Sid (the one off Townsville) has been downgraded to 3
and after
sitting off Townsville for 24 hours has picked up speed and is
heading
further south. It is now expected to cross the coast about a
thousand Km
north of here. Provided it doesn't come any closer than that
all we will
get is rain and screamingly freightening surf for my husband
to test his
nerves against.
Category 4 cyclones and raging bush fires are not rare but
are they
happening more often or is the population expanding and we are
noticing the
devestation more? These are questions that we would surely like
answered.
later:
Watching the news last night I thought about you and the refuge
in
Montreal.
Catherine, a small city, in the Northern Territory (It's equivelent
would be Fort Mackenzie) has been menaced by four or five cyclones
in the
period of a few weeks. Although there has been no direct cyclone
damage
there have been record floods, as I indicated in my last e-mail.
Half the
city's population was evacuated to shelters. The Territory is
hard to get
to at the best of times so supplies were very short indeed. The
streets are
rivers and the streets are now home to dangerous water snakes
and
crocodiles. So wandering around is perilous. Disease is also
very serious.
As well as all the problems that such a massive flood brings
the
temperatures are around 40 degrees, dead creatures are floating
in the streets.
Here it is hot and muggy. The day time temps are in the middle
thirties and the humidity is between 80% and 90%. A loaf of unwrapped
bread
doesn't dry out but is perfectly moist if left on the counter
for 24 hours.
Although this is not unusual summer weather it has lasted much
longer than
usual. In spite of the humidity we have had very little rain
with the
exception of a downpour two days ago when eighteen inches fell
in about half
an hour. I believe that too was a record for the amount in such
a short time.
from same correspondant
I've had several requests for your e-mail. but for God's sake
get out there
and record by camera or by brush what your are seeing. Other
people can
cook the food for victims but few are talented and equipped enough
to make a
permanent record for posterity. Stop your shaking hand and do
what has to
be done. Tears won't bring dead trees back to life but they may
be the life
force for an important moment in history. Go by day and by night!
By all
means take the beauty of the ice and its treachery but don't
forget the
people in the shelter. The eyes of frustration the touches of
tenderness.
Use a chromgenic B&W (Kodak's new one is brilliant) and push
it to 1600 or
3200 so you can use natural light.
I would likt to know if you could send me some more pictures
of the
broken poles and towers (ex:Like the ones from Triangle Noire/of
Darkness). I would really appreciate this. It would really help
my
project that I am doing! Thank you very much.
Got your text from Web site in mail today. My goodness you
people went
through a lot and were really good Samaritans.
For your information, if anybody has contacted you in regard
to trees and
ice storms, rhe following website has a publication on ice storm
damage
to urban trees
http://www.ag.uiuc.edu/~vista/abstracts/aicestorm.html
My name is Tom and I just returned home last night after working
18 hours a
day for 10 days as an electric line supervisor from New York
State Electric
and Gas. We were assigned to work with a team from Hydro Quebec
and worked
in the Iberville and Henryville area. I have been sent to do
restoration
work many times in the past to other utilities in the northeast
US. I have
to commend the people in the St Jean area for their spirit and
determination in coming through this disaster. The Hydro Quebec
people were
a pleasure to work for and were always concerned for out safety
and
welfare, going through the trouble of making sure we had hot
coffee and
meals to keep us going in the cold weather. I would love to hear
from
anyone that noticed our orange and white trucks with the NYSEG
logo on the
side.
I visited many of your pages by way of the qt-vr list.
You have documented a tremendous amount of information here.
I am vert impressed.
You said no other city would survive such a crisis. But yet
less than
six months previous, Winnipeg took on one of the emmense floods
ever
seen this century, and hopefully never again. We too pulled together
and managed through it. We did that as a country, not as a city.
It's
obvious that you made an extreme oversight thanking your city,
instead
of thanking the country for the support and the prayers we sent.
Our
country surrvived, not just your city.
Check your statistics next time,
Please e mail me as I could not get through to your web site.I
hope you are doing
a bit better. I look forward to hearing from you.
Date: Tuesday, April 7, 1998 1:31:02 P
Dear Mr. Greene
Because we produced the map so soon after the storm, and because
of all
problems the storm itself caused in collecting and verifying
data, the best
that we could get from Environmental Canada was a very preliminary
map
which was actually somwhate smaller than the one in our issue.
This is why
we indicated that our map contained preliminary data. I could
send the
source map, but it contains nothing that is not on our map. My
suggestion
would be to contact Environment Canada to see if they have come
up with
more final data. My source was:
Gérald Vigeant.
Chef - Division des services scientifique
Direction de l'environnement atmosphérique
Environnement Canada
I do have point data for the following cities, which I could
send to you if
you give me your fax number: Montréal, Saint-Hubert, Québec,
Ottawa,
Mirabel, Petawawa, Kingston, Cornwall. However, it was also presented
as
preliminary data.
Sorry I could not have been more help to you. We struggled
for several
weeks to get better data, and finally had to go with what was
available.
The people at EC were struggling too, and were as helpful as
they were able.
Steven Fick
Canadian Geographic Magazine
Hello;
My name is Ed Mennella. I work in the Transmission Line Maintenance
section
for Consolidated Edison Co of NY. l am looking for information
on the ice
storm's effects on the electric transmission system in Quebec
& your site
has been very helpful and is apparently accurate.
The specific info I'm looking for is maps of the ice buildup
and power
grid, and photos of damaged towers (pylons) that I can download
into a
Powerpoint file. Anything else relating to the transmssion system
that you
feel is accurate would also be welcome.
Can you help me out? Thank You.
Wonderful work on the Ice Storm VR's! I think you captured
the
heartbreaking vision of stately old trees being ripped to pieces.......
and the piles of woodchips say it all. A really sad site.
mike
|
