There were signals that this is going to be a bad winter. Remember the plunging temperature and snow storm in November? But what do we expect? This is Canada.
As a friend of mine from Quebec said. “This is nothing. This is winter in this part of the world.”
In early December temperature in the mid west was as low as -34 degrees C. There was heavy snowfall as seen on television and traveling was difficult. But that was in the West.
In Ontario, temperatures started to go down too. We definitely needed our sweaters, coats and boots as early as the first weeks of December. The snow plows were busy, People were scrambling in their shopping; Christmas was definitely going to be white, with the snowbanks getting higher every day.
The week before Christmas, weather forecasters started talking of an ice storm. It was predicted to come on that weekend before Christmas. Toronto was still pre-occupied with the Rob Ford debacle’ weather was not a prime interest. But the weatherman was insistent; there were warnings about possible loss of electric power.
People were still preoccupied with helping the victims of that monstrous storm in the Philippines. We were seeing fellow Filipinos digging for the bodies of their loved ones, without a roof over their heads to go home to, no food, no water, no one to turn to. Could an ice storm be worse than these?
That weekend before Christmas was the busiest time in shopping malls. The fridges at home were loaded with goodies. Christmas lights were twinkling outside, Christian homes. It was a very festive mood.
At about 9:00 pm, power started to go but it did not cause much concern; it will be back in a little while. But the night became colder and the lights did not come back. Many were not worried; power outage was not overall. There was none in our street and on, in the next.
Most residents went to bed, hoping for the power to be on in the morning when they rose.
The next morning was a shock. All around was a winter land. Branches of trees were laden with ice; many of them broken and on the ground. The ground was like a skating rink shiny with ice. And the greatest shock of all; power was not back!
I scrambled from my icy bed and put on socks. I grabbed a sweater and a pair of woolen pants. Not enough! I put on a heavy cardigan over my sweater. That was better!
There was no hot coffee, of course! The stove was stone cold. But alas, we had hot water. We made tepid instant coffee from the water in the faucet.
There was no television to turn on. Thanks for technology; batteries made the radio keep on working. I could not imagine how such devastation took place while I was fast asleep. I hardly heared anything. I know there was a little wind but I did not imagine what the ice it brought could do. I did not realize what the fairyland beauty the ice storm created could mean havoc in the lives of the people in this part of the world.
Unknown to me, the city service workers in charge of snow removal were very busy that night/ Maintenance workers in charge of keeping power on were also all out. Theirs was a dangerous task.
Every possible risk was taken care of. The clothes they wore especially their gloves, their equipments, the ladders they used to climb up to the electric lines – everything was well-taken care of.
The power cut-off that most expected to last for a short time went on for more than two weeks in some areas.
The lines that were tangled with the ice laden branches caused the local outages. There was not enough service, workers to attend to all the mishaps. Emergency help from parts of the province and country arrived, but still they were not sufficient.
The service workers worked through the Christmas holidays without stop. Government officials as well were on the streets. The raucous exchanges in the Toronto City Council quieted down. The mayor was seen at work trying to comfort people who were affected by the power outage; community centers that had power opened their doors to people, especially children and seniors who fled from their freezing homes.
Volunteers were out providing assistance to the vulnerable members of the community. It was a blessing that schools were closed for the Christmas break. The communities rallied together providing helps where help was needed.
How great was the damage? Many homes had no food. The stored meat and other perishables in the fridge were spoiled. Is it not ironic that the power that kept the fridge cold was cut and the surroundings were freezing yet the food got spoiled?.
In our case, power was out for about 40 hours and the food in the fridge remained frozen. We went to my niece’s home when we could not stand the cold in our house.
Some streetcars did not run because of the power outages. There were numerous collisions in the road due to the ice. One truck was reported to have jumped the snow banks. A snow removal worker found the truck that was thrown off a ditch. The driver was unconscious but he survived.
Another fellow went out in his truck and drove into a hill of ice. His wife started looking for him and did not find him. Someone else noticed the roof of the truck protruding in the ice. The driver was saved after about eight hours in the frigid truck. He had broken legs and frost bites.
The clamour for food became worse as the weather improved. Food banks needed more supply and help for distribution. Business and commercial entities as well as food stores came to the rescue. Food cards were distributed.
Unfortunately due to the great number of people who needed them, they ran short of these cards. Loud complaints from those who did not get them right away ensued.
The ice storm will be remembered for a long time for the damages in caused. It is a wonder if it will be remembered for the good hearts of people who helped those in need.
This indeed is a murderous weather but hardly any case of people who died directly because of the storm was reported. I hope those people who bothered to look for hidden victims in the ice would be recognized and appreciated.
It is also a time to appreciate how advances in technology have helped ease our problems against this power of Mother Nature. Together with modern technology, let us also applaud and say a heart-felt thank you to those people who put service first to family, at that time of need for them to continue working.
And let us not forget: This is Canada where winter can be bad but hearts of people are warm and ready to help. Thank you for all the blessings.
