Lessons learned from Ice Storm still fresh

Press-Republican (Plattsburgh, NY)

Jan. 30--"The Ice Storm of '98" are words that bring a reaction from people near and far.

Northern New York and Canada had to live with the results of that mighty act of nature.

Being a North Country native, and almost 71, I remember winters with no power because of snowstorms and icing. When I was about 10 in Westville, we had an ice event that shut power down for days, but back then we were prepared for anything.

Our floor furnace didn't need electricity to run, only kerosene and a flame. Mum's gas stove wasn't hooked to electricity. We stayed warm, we ate and had fun.

Warnings before the 1998 Ice Storm kicked my North Country brain into gear. I filled the bathtubs with water, made sure we had multiple gallons of drinking water and a lot of food.

Our daughter, Carrie, and her young family, were living in Peasleeville. They came to our house figuring the closer to civilization the better for services.

Thinking they'd only be with us for a day or two, she left her dog behind with plenty of food, a lot of water and potty pads.

We, like most others, never expected the storm to do such devastation. Telephone poles on our road cracked like toothpicks. After the power went off, all we could hear was "crack, tinkle, tinkle" over and over again, for days, as nearby trees and ice-covered branches snapped and fell to the ground.

We kept busy with board and card games, played by candlelight and oil lamp. We'd turn on the battery operated black-and-white TV to see if anyone was broadcasting. Our old transistor radio worked, but we should have bought more batteries.

Our granddaughter, Angel, was 9 months old. To give her a bath, we turned on the oven, opened the door to warm up the kitchen more (probably not the smartest thing to do, but we cracked the window open in another room in case of carbon monoxide).

I collect 1950s kitchen items. I pulled out the old wash tub; Toby collected icicles from the roof and we melted them on the stove then filled the tub for Angel to have a bath. That water wasn't thrown out. We used it to flush toilets because the bathtubs were getting low on saved water.

We also had a wood stove that ran day and night.

Of course, our freezers were off, so my husband collected icicles to put in our picnic coolers. That was fine for a day or two but we had to cook three meals a day to use up thawing meats.

I'm a big "stock up" person with cans and packaged meals, "just in case," and this was the time to use them.

After two days, knowing Peasleeville would be without power for a while, we picked up the dog and brought him to the house with us. It wasn't an easy trip with trees down and ice caked on the road, but it was a mission of mercy. Strangely, he stayed with us till he died 10 years later.

The City of Plattsburgh municipal power was back on quickly. Thinking we'd be next, because we only live a couple of miles from the city, we anticipated life again as we knew it. Wrong.

On the fourth day after the storm, our neighbors' power was back. We couldn't be powered up because our main line coming into the house was torn out. We waited another two days for that to be replaced and then another day for inspection before power was restored to us. Eight days without power, but others were longer.

I have to admit it was fun at first, living the way our great-grandparents did with kerosene lamps, candles and quiet. But it got old after five days, and I was chomping at the bit, so to say, for electricity.

All in all, I believe we who lived through that Ice Storm have learned a lesson -- be prepared. You never know what's coming tomorrow, but isn't that a life lesson to pay attention to no matter what the circumstances?

One last thought, as always, please be kind to each other. The world needs more kindness.

Susan Tobias lives in Plattsburgh with her husband, Toby. She began her employment in the newsroom with the Press-Republican in 1977. The Tobiases have six children, 18 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. They enjoy traveling to Maine and Colorado, and in her spare time, Susan loves to research local history and genealogy. Reach her by email at [email protected].

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