I remember this. A friend of mine was trapped in her house because all the doors and windows were frozen shut and cased with ice. She tried to get out of her house by using a blow dryer on one of the windows. She was making progress when, you guess it, power went out. It was a nightmare as my friend was a recovering addict on the methadone program and was unable to get her daily dose from the pharmacy. Looking back 25 yrs as devestating as it was, she felt it saved her life. being trapped in her house in the dark completely dope sick and completely powerless she got off the methadone program. Once she was finally able to leave her house , she still was dope sick but had gone through the worst part of it and decided right there and then, that she would never touch another opioid again. She still clean today thanks to the 1998 ice storm

Facts that weren't in the video: At one point during the crisis, when the last electricity line connecting Montreal was in jeopardy, Montreal had about one day left worth in potable water reserve. If the line had gone down, we would have no more potable water on top of the reserve. Hydro-Quebec's employees worked tirelessly to put the power back on. Hydro-Quebec's unions voted to suspend their collective labor agreement until the last client had electricity, which was Feb. 4, so about 4 weeks after the beginning of the storm. This is impressive when you consider the amont of work. Quebec has learned so much from this event. I was reading about the aftermath of this event on Hydro-Quebec's website. In 1998, the pylons and the electricity structures were designed with a weight load of 45mm of ice but wind wasn't accounted for. During the ice storm, some structures had up to 80mm of ice. Now, they designed electricity lines with a weight load of 80cm (i think) plus they account for the force of the winds. When they reconstructed the lines, they added anti-fall structures every 10 pylons to prevent the falling chain reaction we saw. They also added fall prevention systems: if the weight on the line is too heavy, the electricity cable will fall, but not the pylon. They also redesigned Montreal electricity grid to have redondances and multiple routes if one or more go down. So, if a similar ice storm would happen, the damages wouldn't be as severe. The way the government managed the 1998 crisis is now the gold standard and it's taught in management school. Each day, QC primer and Hydro-Quebec CEO held a daily press conference to update the population on the situation. They prioritized a clear, reassuring and no bullshit communication style.

The kids being so happy about their extended Christmas holiday really speaks to how well the parents did at distracting their kids from the reality with which they were faced. 😊

I think I can say that Tyler is my favorite American by all means lol. His interest in Canada surpasses all that I've seen in the past. His part 3 is as epic as his part one. Great appreciation for Tyler 👍🇨🇦👍

Tyler, when you come to Canada, be sure to say "I'm just a typical average American" in that tone when you cross the border (with a smile) 😂

Dude says "First time I wish I'd stayed in Winnipeg." Can't help getting in a dig at Winnipeg. 🤣

I had a friend who ran a dairy farm in the affected area in 1998. Since he had one of the most up to date milking operations at the time, powered by diesel generators, dairy herds from the surrounding farms were trucked in for milking. His operation ran 24 hours a day for over 2 weeks.

Just a quick note. I told you in Episode 1 that I was there as a soldier. Here is a bit more to the story. My soldiers under my command were ordered by Ontario Hydro to move some wires off the road. I told the Supervisor with the Hydro that I would not order my soldiers to do that until I knew it was safe. He looked at me like I had two heads and said "there is no power, I dont see what the issue is" I told him to go and grab one of the wires and then I would order my soldiers to do the same. Just by chance at that moment the supervisor of the supervisor shows up jumps out of his truck and yells "dont touch the wires they are live". I turned looked at the initial supervisor shook my head and walked away.

We lost our home and our kennel when the power surged after being turned back on after the ice storm. 17 Canadian Champion dogs burned to death. We had been without power for 19 days prior to that. It was dangerous & we were in survival mode for nearly 3 weeks. It was so traumatizing. Being trapped was something I'll never get over.

You should learn about the railroad incident in Lac Megantic disaster. I will only hint to what it is: A train. A derailment. I would like to see you learn about this. The disaster was comparable to Chernobyl except it was a train left unattended instead of a Reactor Core exploding. Edit: In case you were wondering, Lac Megantic is a city in Quebec.

You know the ice storm was bad when infrastructure designed for some of the coldest weather on the planet couldn't handle it. Thanks for sharing - this is probably my favourite reaction video of yours yet.

"I was in Winnipeg yesterday... for the first time in my life I wished I would have stayed in Winnipeg" well played lol

Hey, Tyler! You Americans were essential in restoring power to Quebec and Ontario! Crews from New York State, Vermont, Ohio, all came to help us! Thank you! Peace

Two personal stories for you, Tyler. I was on one of the last flights to leave Montreal at the onset of the storm, headed to UK for a family funeral. We went around about 5 times, getting the wings de-iced each rotation until we finally got clearance for take off. On my return I was very ill. Sudden onset of blinding headaches. I will be ever grateful for the amazing medical staff who, with hospital hallways stacked with senors who had fallen on the ice and families affected by fires in apartment blocks, correctly diagnosed meningitis. It would have been so easy to assume jet-lag or some other causation. L'Hopital Santa Cabrini: I owe them my life.

It was a massive nightmare and mess but Being Canadians, we helped each other out.

Tyler, one thing you have to know about Quebec, and Montreal. We have the biggest snow removal fleet in the world. Bigger than Russia's. We also have the 3rd best and biggest Hydro Electric companies in the world, so when it comes to workers, we are huge. That's one reason why we got out of it as fast as we did, even though it seems like it took a really long time.

All ice but no hockey. How ironic.

My friend recover electricity a month after and army was at her home near Sherbrooke in south Québec province. I was in winter camping the first night of the ice storm and i had to cut my tent with a knife to escape and walked back on the snow, cutting my legs from the top ice layer. I was in blood when i finnaly arrived home.

Hey Tyler, just so you know Canada and the US have a fairly long history of helping each other during disasters, for example US sent aid when an ammunition ship detonated in the Halifax harbor during the first world war and Canada aided the US after the twin tower attacks.

Canadians are amazed at how well Americans deal with hurricanes and we follow your weather news with fascination.

The ending is ominous but increasingly true as the years go by. Climate change is very notable in Montreal because winters have changed, it takes longer for it to get cold and it doesn't get as cold as it used to, which means the temperature lingers for more days per year around the range that causes freezing rain. And despite it still getting very cold during winter, the winter period is overall shorter than what it used to be in 98. I wouldn't be surprised if this happened again within our lifetime.

A sad side note, thousands of deer were trapped in the ice. In Eastern Ontario, Southern Quebec, most of New Brunswick, Maine and Vermont and a bit of New York state. Wildlife authorities and police had the sorry job of putting many of them down. I imagine other critters also had a bad time.

An interesting side note about the disaster. Because of all the damage to power infrastructure in Quebec that needed to be completely replaced, not just repaired, the new infrastructure had far more recent and reliable technology. So when that huge blackout hit the north east of North America in august of 2003, the cascade collapse stopped at the Quebec border because the newer technology had proper safeguards in place to handle the overload(we were without power about 3 days where we are in Ontario).

You’re a wonderful American! Thank you for your interest in learning about Canada 🇨🇦👍😊

I lived through that. One thing that was not mentioned in the documentary: Years before, engineers had made an assessment of the structural integrity of the pylons in the grid and had determined that quite a number of them were antiquated and wouldn't make it past a certain load. Hydro Québec ignored them, did nothing and went on risk management, banking on the odds that some natural disaster wouldn't occur. They got it in their chops in 98. And they never acknowledged their mismanagement or even apologized for it.

Hi Tyler. I remember them driving a CN locomotive off the tracks and parked it beside a hospital, so the train’s generator could power the hospitals transformer.What a storm!

Toronto got hit by an ice storm in December 2013. It was the first time for me experiencing this, There was a centenary tree behind the house and the ice broke alot of major branches breaking and damaging parts of the back alley including my garage. We were without power for two days, first night was ok since the house was still warm, second night was horrible however and we had to go to the local shelter the next night which happened to be Xmas eve. My mom burst into tears because she never experienced something like that, but as a miracle the power was repaired the next day on Xmas day. Obviously it was not comparable to this disaster, even though some rural zone of Toronto were bad and took up to 1 month to repair power lines.

If you enjoyed watching this, I HIGHLY reccomended looking into the true story behind the musical Come From Away. It recounts how 38 planes with thousands of people in the air on 9/11 were diverted to Gander, a town of 9000 people, in Newfoundland.

From Richmond, Virginia! I can't believe they came from that far! I'm almost crying. I can't believe it. Heros. All of them. I have so much respect for the linemen/hyro workers. Every time something bad happens, they are on it and do everything they can, work tirelessly, to get power back. It's amazing.

I’ll never forget the sound of massive trees snapping like twigs. The sound of all the ice hitting the ground sounded like glass smashing

I lived it - it was traumatizing. Hearing the breaking trees triggers me to cry to this day - you can look for "the ice-storm bend" in most trees of the area, on any branches that managed to survive. One of the worst situations was trying to prevent the basement from flooding given all the pumps are electric. The biggest lesson I hope we never forget is how dependent we are on electricity -so please have a plan for when critical things breakdown. Mother Nature can, and will, kick our butts now and then to remind us who's boss ;)

Canada and the US always help each other during emergencies. We’re almost like one people with 2 systems of government. Team North America!

I got to laugh every time you say you're surprised at things in 1998. LOL. In 1998 I was in college, doing a fine arts degree, photography, graphic design (computer) and pottery. After college, in 2000 (just 2 years later), I worked in a camera store when digital cameras first came out. Before that, in 1994 I bought my first video camera. The weather channels weren't that much different than they are now. Most of the models and timing of people getting the information were the same. 98 wasn't THAT.long ago. I'm only 46 and I remember this very well. PS. I don't think you actually read these, but if you get a chance, look up "Snowmageddon 2020 Newfoundland by Mark Critch". And anything else Snowmageddon 2020 if you want to see what snow is like in Newfoundland. Also, hurricane Fiona has been one of the worst natural.disaster in Canada, mostly Atlantic Canada. Homes were washed out to sea and lives were lost. Especially in Port Aux Basque Newfoundland. Newfoundland also had a tsunami in the early 1900s.

I'm from Quebec this event is very well known. Last year I participated in one of the biggest computer server project and 5X 12 cylinders diesel engines by Caterpillar were installed as backup, they guaranty constant service . This new service will be used by hospitals, emergency services and various companies.

Stories like this are sad but also kind of happy. To see people from all over coming together to help complete strangers in their time of need. Like the truck driver who was informed of people sleeping outside without beds or tents and he just goes "I'm coming in"

My friend walked around photographing Old Montreal with all the ice. She made cards out them and sold them to tourists that summer. My grandmother was in her 90’s then and it was a fight to get her out of her place to a relatives that had power. We have pictures of her so bundled she looked like the Michelin man.

I always love when Canadians & Americans help each other in every disaster. It’s so heartwarming. ❤❤❤

I lived further enough in the northern part of the province that we were barely affected. I remember being glued to the television. As an aside, there was a nice little news report about an old woman (aroung 80 years old at the time) who was having the time of her life. The police went to her house so she could be evacuated but she had a fonctionnal wood stove from the 1920's in there. When they knocked, she welcomed them with fresly baked apple pie, a warm hearth and she was literaly enjoying a return to her youth in her rocking chair. But since there was no working phone around her, her family had sent help because they didn't know how she was doing

As a Canadian far removed from the incident at the time, I do recall being glued to the TV for days. I had forgotten a lot of detail, so it was interesting to revisit it. Great job, Tyler.

We were definitely in a ice-world. I had the army on my street, in a city in Montreal called Dorval. We compromised and shared home's when power was lost. It was definitely a time to remember.

if you enjoyed this you should look into the "Blackout of 2003" a moment in both Can and Us when all the power was knocked out for most entire southern Ontario, Can all the way into Qc and deep into states for weeks.

This could have happened again just a few weeks back during the last winter storm . East coast was hit pretty hard.

I moved to Germany from the U.S. in ‘97, but I remember hearing about this storm in the news here. I also remember some people I know in the New England states wearing “I Survived Ice Storm ‘98” T-shirts. Of course, the brief reports on the news here could not even come close to what this video portrays. The images of those massive electro towers crumbled on the ground and the sound of the trees cracking are something that I won’t forget. Powerful video, @Discover Montreal, and great reaction video, Tyler.

Southern Ontario had a bad ice storm in 2013 I think it was, right around Christmas. I live in a small town east of Toronto and we had no power for several days. Luckily we have a gas fireplace that could be switched on manually and we were able to stay at home and wait it out. I can only imagine what it was like in Montreal in 1998; I lived in Toronto at that time and I definitely remember the news stories.

We had ice storms in the wider region again in 2013, 2015, and even 2018. 2013 was probably the worst (part of a huge North Eastern territorial weather event) if I recall correctly, and we had huge power outages in Toronto. Thankfully, lessons from Montreal '98 helped us, and each city affected by progressive ice storms learns from the past ones. For instance, trimming branches or felling trees near power lines became a stronger focus of infrastructure. More areas are opting for buried lines where possible, though that presents environmental, mechanical, and financial challenges. Anyway, I experienced the 3- to 4-day cooling effect in my house. Toughed it out for 3 nights and gave up on the 4th. Had to walk to a store to charge my phone and call around to find a friend who had power and room. Travel was hard. The store's ATM was out of cash and Interac was down for some of the cab companies. Helluva time in the city but still not as bad as Montreal. Oddly (but unsurprisingly), some people in rural Ontario coped better than us city-folk despite worse weather effects. They have sturdy homes with fireplaces designed to be lit for long stretches, are wise to clear trees near their houses, and are equipped with recreational and utilitarian winter gear like snowmobiles, etc. Heck, my ex-girlfriend's mom was barely inconvenienced because she goes snowshoeing for fun every winter. I pictured her out in the backwoods in a pair of snowshoes, shooting skeets with her guns while those of us in Toronto huddled in our cold homes wondering when the city would rescue us with power.

This is a great series. I like the concept. If you want to do more of these, i suggest: - Flood of 1996 in Saguenay - Lac Mégantic train derailment in 2013 - the Hinton, AB head on collision between a CN freight and VIA Rail passenger train also, the Halifax harbour explosion of 1917 Not all natural disasters, but pretty important events that happened in Canada and affected a lot of people. Also, it would be interesting to see your take on Québec's 2 failed independence referendums : the first in 1980, and the 2nd in 1995, where the results were 49.5% yes, 50.5% no ..... !

I worked for three weeks on companies roofs cutting ice with a chainsaw while it could collapse under us. We had 20$/hour in 1998 money to do it, and we saved a lot of money to companies from having to rebuilt .

I am 36 years old today, I remember the ice storm I lived in Aylmer Quebec. This storm hit a huge part of eastern Canada. I was 12 years old then and I was quite fine staying inside and not going to school for that week. My mother was smart had a stockpile of candles and camping supplies to keep us warm and lots of canned food. The bad parts was hearing of all the elderly who died from this and I had a rash from frostbite on my ears that turned into a lifetime of psoriasis. I have a daily reminder of that time.

It was because of this storm that when a similar incident happened in the greater toronto area they had taken measures to prevent the same thing from happening to our grid. Still lost 27 people in the storm though.

I'm surprised they didn't mention how close Montréal was to having their whole sewage infrastructure burst from the freeze. We were lucky in Ottawa. Skated to school when it was all over, lol

When there's a crisis in either the US or Canada, that's when we always come together as neighbours. Our cultures aren't exactly the same, but we always help each other. Americans were so good to us during the ice storm. Very caring and kind and went above and beyond to help. We gave it back during Hurricane Katrina. All the struggles to save people and restore power there, and when the Americans finally got to the Ninth Ward, there were Canadian flags everywhere and these guys had just flown in and one the job, got water, food and electricity to the people. I remember they got in a wee bit of hot water for not clearing it with your government first, but there are documentaries out there showing how much Canada did to help New Orleans. There was a whole little village set up by Canadians, providing shelter and opportunities to start anew for survivors. When 9-11 happened, I remember the US Ambassador to Canada crying and saying Canada really is our best friend. Both of our nations step up when the going gets tough, and I think it's a wonderful example of how to get along and thrive.

Thank you for your reaction Tyler. It brought it all back! After watching this, I checked the 'Discover Montreal' site for other stories and happened on one relating the creation of Expo '67, the most sucessful, financially and in terms of attendance, of all World Fairs to this day! Wow! Another story of a Canadian disaster is the Halifax Explosion of 1918. Biggest worldwide, man-made, non-nuclear explosion ever.

Big thanks to the Americans who came to help us. I don't think we could say thanks enough. At this time, it's like we were One, strong America, working hands in hands to help each others.

This is important to me. I can speak French and my grandpa was born in Quebec but it is fun to make fun of the east but in 1998 Canada came together. But… This storm nailed the us too and I remember how generous Americans were - you guys gave your love and help. I don’t think it could have been fixed so quickly without your help.

I was a member of the Canadian Forces back in 98 and yes we were deployed just out side of Montreal.. We stayed in a Hospital for a week, occupying the 7th floor of a Psychiatric ward hallways which we slept on them and them and the patients occupying the rooms... The hospital did have back up generators.. Our job was to clear streets so emergency personal could access smaller communities.. We were also tasked house to house searches which some of them had a deceased home owners especially older folks trapped in them for days with out heat.. The rural communities were hit the hardest cause they were totally cut off from the rest of the Province and us the forces we were conducting 18 hours daily shifts.. I will never forget the sight of broken trees for miles looking in every direction it was a very unique experience that I wish never see it again.. Thank you for covering this tragic Canadian event which I think the younger generations should be aware of it and be some what prepared on how to deal with it..

I was young when this happened and I'm in Ontario so I don't remember it, but I remember Lloyd Robertson being on the news every night. He was the last reporter in the video. After he retired he moved to my town and came in for dinner about once a month. He is the sweetest man with the loudest voice. He couldn't turn his news voice off lol. He was in a car accident when I was working there and the first reporter on the scene saw that it was him, handed him the microphone and let him report his own car accident. Still came in for dinner a week later with some cuts and bruises and we told him we saw him reporting his own accident. What a legend, and a fixture in Canadian news for decades.

Love his fascination for Canada, so I am giving him a compliment. He is quite a good-looking dude 😁

I'm 39, I was a teenager during the ice storm and to be honest, those are some of the best memories I have! We had a wood stove and family came over to stay with us! It was actually a great time for me as a kid back then.

This was an interesting series, I am a new Brunswicker and I had no idea that this ever happened. Especially I was born a year after this storm... what even more crazy is the fact that when I watched the first 2 parts there was a storm, 30-40 cm of snow with freezing rain in the mix.

I was 5 when it happened, in Vaudreuil (SW of Montreal). As they say, people became very generous in helping their others. If someone had a fireplace or wood stove, they would house their whole street, and in return the neighbours would help with getting wood, working and cleaning the ice, etc. Personally, my relatives went to one of my uncle and aunt who had a wood stove, so we were able to get heating and cook. My parents were careful not to show any panic as not to stress me and my brother/cousins, and since we had no electricity, we couldn't see the images of how it was elsewhere. To me it was just a week long extension to the christmas holidays, and I got to spend it with my cousins and familly, spend the day outside sliding in the ice and snow and end the day around a warm fire with some hot chocolate. They lived right next to a forest, I remember looking at the forest and hearing those tree fall, as well as the ice break when it thawed. Sounded like glass breaking. Durring the crisis, we would cross the forest by walking on a frozen quarry filled with water to prevent receiving a branch on the head, we would cross the forest this way and get on the other side were we'd cross the highway by foot (no cars, and when there was one they were going super slow because of the conditions) to get to the stores and get food and supplies. Then we'd put them in a plastic kid sleigh and pull it back home over the snow. My parents would wear our bycicle helmets and got in the forest to salvage branches for our fireplace and the neighbors, my other uncle went ice fishing on the lake to get food as well, even shared some fish with the neighbors We had somewhat of a saying, it's the warth of the people that melted the ice and saved us from it

Thanks, Tyler, for bringing back memories of a very emotional period. We got through the ice storm through the kindness and generosity of Montrealers (and of course our geographic neighbours). The Montreal campus for the tech company I worked for had 500 employees. The building never lost power, but like other businesses voluntarily closed for 3 weeks to (i) reduce the drain on the power grid and (ii) allow employees to focus on their families. We had a telephone campaign to contact all employees and ensure everyone was safe. Moreover, we matched up families without power with those that did. Imagine families hosting other families who were, at best, work acquaintances. In my family, we would move in with extended family with power, but then quickly rotate as power availability would switch between neighbourhoods. Guests would suddenly become hosts. And I should add, with alarms systems down and stores unprotected, I do not recall any reports of looting or theft. It was an anxious time for sure, but I look back on this event primarily with great pride and heartfelt memories of people helping people.

I was 9 years old when this storm happened and had little to no understanding of how disastrous it actually was, it just felt like a cool adventure at the time. Luckily for us, we lived in Brossard which is one of the South Shore suburbs closest to Montreal and only lost power for 9 days. People further away from the city had it much much worse.

I was living in montreal's southshore. I spent 9 days without power sleeping on my water bed ( thankfully it never froze ).

This series is your best ever. Please react to the 9/11 planes and Gander, Newfoundland. It’s another epic moment of Canadian history.

Great video that brings back alot of memories, we lived in Brossard which is a city in the south shore of montreal and we were out of power for 12 days. We were thankful to have a wood combustion stove for head and to cook on and a BBQ with a full tank of propane out doors. But we were not part of the triangle of darkness. Our friends out in Hemmingford south of us were in the triangle and they had no power for 33 days. That was nuts

Good job, Tyler! I certainly recall this storm, although I live in Southwestern Ontario and experienced almost none of the extreme effects. As most of us though, I was closely following it on the news. The descriptor that stays with me to this day is from a friend who was driving north to Ottawa at the beginning of the storm. He said suddenly there were absolutely no lights except car lights and a couple of times he passed right through small towns and only realized it later since there were no street lights on or traffic lights working. He did make it home, only to find it totally dark there too since the power had failed in his neighbourhood. It was his vivid description of the extreme darkness and the silence except for the ice pellets hitting his windshielf that I still recall. Your 3-part reaction brought it all back...

I know you're probably not going to do another long reaction like this one for a while, but if you do it again could you please react to Operation Yellow Ribbon by Tom Brokaw? It's about what happened in Canada during the events of 9/11, and how it strengthened the friendship between the U.S and Canada at the time.

According to Hydro Québec, the 1998 ice storm in numbers: Between January 5 and 9, more than 100 mm (4 inches) of freezing rain fell in the Montreal area. Up to 1.4 million households without electricity - More than 3 million people affected 3,000 km of transmission and distribution lines rebuilt - 400 km of high voltage lines rebuilt 1,500 steel pylons replaced - 17,000 wooden poles replaced 4,500 transformers replaced - 88,000 insulators replaced Up to 10,000 people have been hard at work restoring service, working up to working 12 to 16 hour days. The last customer to be connected regained electricity 36 days after the beginning of the crisis.

Hello Tyler First of all, I would like to say that I really like your videos. I am a Quebecer and in 1998 I was in the middle of the triangle of darkness. I was 8 months pregnant with my first child. The first few days, my husband and I stayed in our apartment but then we had to go to my parents' house who had a wood burning fireplace to stay warm and cook. The authorities were giving news of the situation and instructions on television... but we had no electricity so no television! It took about 5 or 6 weeks to get electricity back in our area. I look forward to seeing your next videos. 🙂 Isabelle

Can’t help but think of the hospitals and seniors’ residences during the ice storm.

In the cleanup, the army was instructed to cut the power lines that fell to the ground to make the roads and sidewalks safe, but they were not able to discern the power lines from the telephone lines. As telephone lines still work when on the ground and do not pose a danger, the telephone companies had to dispatch staff to help the army differentiate the telephone lines so the phones could keep working.

Thank you Tyler for this great video. As a Canadian who lives in the most south western part of Ontario, we were not affected by this disaster. We watched the coverage on tv but the video you showed gave so much more detail. It’s good to know the details and we pray it will never happen again. Thanks again for the coverage of a terrible natural disaster. 👏👏🇨🇦🇨🇦

Hi Tyler the ice storm was really bad. But what happened to Halifax was the worst. If you want to learn alot about Canada. You have to look to the Altantic Prov. Alot of history of this Country comes from there. At one time all of Canada were native tribes before the settlers came. The first ones were the Vikings. They landed on the coast of Newfoundland. I am a Cape Bretoner. If you look into it you will learn alot about this Country.

“I was in Winnipeg yesterday and it was the first time in my life I wished I’d stayed in Winnipeg”😂😂😂 that man has me dead

❣I love that you dedicated 3 videos to this storm matter. Also your actual reactions...Ho Ho!🤣🙌

Having been there and living through it, I find these 3 Vlogs fascinating to watch. I cooked everything for 5 adults using one fondue burner. Coffee, tea, potatoes, vegetables, meat, eggs, toast etc. Seeing that we were all in a one bedroom apartment (2 only during the day as they were my neighbours) it warmed up the space. At night we just added an extra blanket.

Thanks for doing such a deep dive on the Ice Storm.

I remember this storm. Back then I was living and working in Halifax Nova Scotia as a visiting nurse. Many people in their homes depended on us to give them their insulin injections chand the dressing on their wounds or ulcers. I lost power in my part of Halifax. I had a barbecue on my patio of my apartment so thankfully could eat. I did have my own cell phone back then I had my own cell phone. It was wild but not nearly as wild as those to the more of us.

I remember a father and his family being interviewed when he said I am never eating by candlelight again. It is no longer romantic. How true..

I was 7-years old living on the west coast of Canada when we were hit by the "The Great Tsunami of 1964" as a result of "The Great Alaskan Earthquake". The earthquake registered a magnitude of 9.2 (March 28, 1964) and its resulting tsunami was particularly destructive along the Canadian coastline but also affected Washington, Oregon, California and Hawaii states. As a 7-year old, it was exciting, sleeping in front of the fireplace because the power was out for many days, playing games by candlelight, and even roasting wieners on sticks over the open fire. I'm sure it was not so fun for my parents.

I was on the phone, a land line which still was working even though electricity had been out for days, when a massive 100+ year old tree collapsed in front of me as i looked out my back door. The tree didn't topple over, it collapse straight down, the trunk simply split into folded strips of wood. But what frightened me the most was not the danger that it could hit me, but was the sound of crushing ice on ice and wood shrapnel hitting everywhere. The tree didn't just collapse, it had exploded.

I was on the west coast during the storm and had friends there. It was devastating but loved how everyone came together to help each other. Including our neighbors to the south. I’m not sure if you seen the floods that happened in Abbotsford BC in 2021. It affected Washington state as well. The history of this area is interesting and the city used to be a lake they drained to build there yrs ago. It’s predicted to flood again as infrastructure is old and worry pumps will fail. The other is the fires in BC and Alberta. The fire in Fort Mcmurray AB alone ravaged the town causing 9.9 billion in damage. Thanks for sharing our beautiful country 💕

Well Tyler, the one thing the love people in the east have not learned, at least in NB, is they do not trim tree branches away from power lines. To this day there have been mini ice storms and the branches are the power company's enemy. On my property I made sure the branches were cut back, but my darlings neigh ours didn't do a thing. During this horrendous ice storm every province sent power crews to Quebec to help restore power. It was the worst disaster in Canadian history...but it could happen again.

This puts fresh memories in my mind from Black Friday ‘87 here in Alberta… like this ‘98 storm, it’s amazing how people band together to help each other out when it really matters!

I’m sorry dropping logs from a helicopter to clear ice has to be the most Canadian thing that has ever happened. This is coming from a Canadian 😂. Brave and amazing.

A neighbour and I had big marine aquariums. We had to heat water over a fire in the yard, then do water changes to keep the aquariums at a passable temperature. Fortunately, we were only out of power in my area for about 24 hours. I lost a few thousand dollars worth of electronics though from the power flashing on and off repeatedly over the storm. Yes, you still can see some damage in forested areas - the ice snapped a lot of big trees, and although there's been 25 years to grow back, a snapped 50' tree isn't replaced by a new one in 25 years, so there's big patches of forest with all short trees. In fact, we had one such (snapped tree patch in 1998, short tree patch now) that got ripped up by the 2018 tornado that came past the house.

Now you should watch a show on the worst made made explosion in history before the atomic bomb which happened in Halifax N.S in 1917.

I graduated from college in the US in 1998 and had no idea this happened. It was very interesting to watch. A couple of weeks ago I watched a much happier video about Expo 67 in Montreal; maybe that's something you can watch later.

I was about 8 years old when this happened. We lived in the triangle of darkness and had no electricity for weeks. my town eventually ran out of water and food. I remember only one house on the street had a fireplace and all the neighbors brought their mattresses and pets into this singular house. Meals were cooked on this wood fireplace, water was boiled/heated for baths. Good part is the outside was essentially a fridge so at least the food didn't go bad. It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. One thing that is not mentioned in this documentary is that not all people were nice/helpful. In my area, someone bought out all the firewood and candles and sold them at like 3-4 times the price.

I lived through this, I was in grade school when it happened. My family was extremely fortunate to have a fire place and only affected for a few days by the power outages. We housed other family members & neighbors who weren't as fortunate. I still remember the sound of snapping trees and ice cracking under our feet, some kids were even skating in their driveway because the ice build up was so thick. The fireplace had to be used to frequently that the chimney pipe would glow. It's neat to see this documentary 25 years later. I was too young to realize the severity of the situation. The schoolboard of my school was dealing with a teacher strike, so I had no school for at least 2-3 months that year! Playing outside, our knees and ankles would get bruised from constantly breaking through ice. Our house had a well, so our water was fine. I've seen other KZfaqrs react to this and undermined the implications of being powerless for days in the dead of winter in Canada. At least you recognized the danger, no heat is a death sentence when you have no access to alternate heat sources. A few things the documentary missed was how lots of farmers lost livestock and how the maple syrup industry was crippled. The following summer, lots of the remaining damaged trees got infested by beetles and some are still deformed today. It ruined my grandpa's Christmas tree business because ALL the trees were permanently bent (they looked like something out of Dr. Seuss). Also, that comment about Winnipeg is because it's got some of the coldest and snowiest winters.

Good Morning Tyler and thank you for watching and reacting to this disaster. This Canadian really appreciates your interest in the Great White North. If you are interested, you may want to watch videos on the Flood of the Century in Manitoba and North Dakota in 1997. That was a truly amazing time here in Manitoba.

I just hugged my wife and reminded her that 25 years ago we lived through this. While we had no power, we barbecued or cooked with wood and tried to use as much of the content of the freezer as we could before it went to waste. Evenings were fun. Our daughters were young teenagers at the time, we all gathered around the kitchen table to play scrabble by candlelight. Meanwhile, for several weeks I carried my camera everywhere and put together my own ice storm album. Because we had a good reserve of spare batteries, I drove to both my mother's and my brother's homes to bring them batteries. We live off-island on the South Shore while my mother and brother lived on the island. Getting into the city wasn't easy: first there was a pylon down across the main road (for many years this particular pylon was on display in front of Hydro-QuéBec's museum in my hometown), so that required a detour, then of all the bridges and the tunnel into the city, there was all-together just a single lane open. At the time I had a contract for a large company situated in the immediate area of the main electric substation that was heavily damaged in the so-called Dark Triangle. In order to keep the production lines going, they brought in a giant flatbed-mounted generator to power a couple of production lines. For the products produced on the lines that couldn't be powered, they gave their recipes to competitors who produced them for my customer. Additionally, because none of their employees had power, for weeks in some cases, they made their premises available for all of them and their families to come in, eat something warm and take a shower. Most spectacularly, the next town over from where I live commandeered a diesel-electric locomotive (they're basically rail-mounted generators), lifted it off the rails and dropped it on the main street running next to the rails and then drove it on the asphalt the short distance to city hall where they hooked it up to the building to keep the lights on. The divots were still there many years later.

I was like those king in the video. I live in Montreal and I was 8 years old. For me it was a longer break with friend and family at home. We had a fire place, so it was warm, we were doing camping in the basement (near the fire place), playing all day and board game at night. We didn't miss a lot of electricity, but there was a lot of electric flashes for a while. I mean, it was a great time for me. The first day that the weather got clear, my father removed the snow in the backyard and we skate all day outside. My dad removed the ice from the roof and there is a picture of me holding a 6'' thick block of ice from there. I believe the conclusion is, because of global warming, we do have a lot more ice rain then when I was a kid. Never has bad, but something like that is more likely to happen today.

This was a fun walk down memory lane. I was in 6th grade in 98. I mostly remember camping at my grand-parents because they had a wood stove and playing cards endlessly.

I clearly remember that event. I was a firefighter in a small town on the south shore of Montreal, spent three weeks of 22 hour shifts and sleeping on the concrete floor of the fire station. Still have tears in my eyes watching this!!!

I was 6 years old and still remember this! We were right in ''the triangle''... 22 days without power! So happy you're talking about this.

The most beautiful thing is to see people coming together. The power that we hold in our hearts 🌎♥

Enjoyed your series of reactions to this major natural disaster. I was living in Western Canada when it happened, so was not directly affected, but I do remember the incredible and scarry images on the news. I am cynical about humanity and our ability to destroy each other, so it is so refreshing to see people coming together every time there is a disaster. And despite what you said in the second video I do think Americans would come together to help each other at times of disaster. Just look at The Mississippi Marine Brigade. I think you have mentioned or heard about the reaction the small Newfoundland town of Gander after the 911 attacks and subsequent closure of American skies to airplanes. There are two documentaries you should watch, If you haven't already seen them. The first is a CBC documentary, which covers not only the response by the people of Gander (and surrounding communities), but brilliant Broadway Show "Come From Away" which chronical those days. Check out: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/grp-d7Wnute6gXU.html. The second is from the NBC documentary "9/11: Operation Yellow Ribbon". Narrated by Tom Brokaw (who happens to be Canadian), it aired as part of NBC's Olympic Coverage during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/oL6Sq9KqmbPLlac.html. Keep doing what you do. I enjoy seeing an America's reaction to the great country I am proud to be a citizen of (despite our many flaws) ;).

I remember waking up and having my parents advise me school was going to be closed cuz of this storm. I also remember going up/down my street with my skates on to check in on my neighborhood friends. Oh the memories.

I lived in saint-hyacinthe at this time when i was 6 year old. I still remember all the week we have to make sure we can pass this ice storm. In the moment you dont really realise was it is but after 4days it became critical to move. Before that me and my brother was playing ice hockey in the street in front of my house between rain fall. It is was scary but beautiful at same time.