Quebecers are used to harsh winter weather but one natural disaster was unbeatable: the 1998 ice storm.
On January 5, 1998, Quebec was hit with what became one of the largest natural disasters in Canadian history.
From January 5 to 9 of that year, parts of Quebec had accumulated 100 mm of freezing rain, which resulted in 600,000 people being forced to evacuate their homes while 1,393,000 citizens lost power.
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From Kingston, Ontario, to Quebec’s Eastern Townships, some areas were covered with up to 10 cm of ice pellets and freezing rain. The five-day storm toppled hydro lines and resulted in the federal government ordering the largest-ever peacetime deployment of troops. Roughly 15,000 Canadian Forces personnel were called to Quebec in order to provide shelter and medical care, clear roads, and deliver supplies.
The ice storm ended up costing an estimated $5.4 billion in utility repairs, insurance claims, and productivity loss across Quebec.
The storm was a result of an unprecedented upper-level area of low pressure stalled out over the Great Lakes. The system caused the warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico to travel up to the upper St. Lawrence Valley. The cold air being pushed into the St. Lawrence along with the warm stream from the Gulf of Mexico caused the two currents to collide, resulting in precipitation that fell as rain but froze as it hit the ground.
Montreal, 1998 (The Weather Network)
In Quebec alone, 30,000 utility poles fell, resulting in half of its population losing power, some for up to five weeks.
A total of 35 people died as a direct result of the ice storm. Fatalities were attributed to carbon monoxide poisoning from generators that had been brought indoors, accidents, fires from indoor wood-burning stoves left unattended, and hypothermia.
Montreal, 1998. (The Weather Network)
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Timeline of the 1998 ice storm
- January 5, 1998
- 20 mm of freezing rain
- January 6, 1998
- 34 mm of freezing rain
- 700,000 customers lose power in the Outaouais, Beauce, Montérégie, and Montreal regions
- Eight transmission towers collapse along Highway 20 near Drummondville
- January 7, 1998
- 7.5 mm of freezing rain
- 435,000 people lose power
- 800 tree trimmers arrive from the United States to help out Hydro-Québec workers
- January 8, 1998
- 23 mm of freezing rain
- 1,023,000 Quebecers without power
- Hundreds of high-voltage transmission lines collapse in Montérégie
- 3,000 members of the Canadian Armed Forces arrive to help civil society organizations and Hydro-Québec
- January 9, 1998
- 14 mm of freezing rain (total amounts near 100 mm)
- Downtown Montreal is completely dark
- Montreal metro stops running
- All bridges between Montreal and the South Shore close (except the Louis-Hippolyte-Lafontaine Bridge-Tunnel)
- Montréal water filtration plants shut down due to power failure
- January 10, 1998
- Rain stops, intense cold and snow
- 1,393,000 customers still without power
- Rebuilding starts
- Damage: 24,000 poles down, 900 steel towers and 3,000 km of lines to be rebuilt
- 1,250 line workers arrive from the United States to lend a hand to Hydro-Québec crews
- January 11, 1998
- Shelters are almost at full capacity
- Québec Premier Lucien Bouchard calls for solidarity among all Quebecers
- Power restored to downtown Montreal (grid remains unstable)
- January 12, 1998
- Deicing starts in downtown Montreal
- 100 more line crews arrive from Detroit
- January 13, 1998
- 380,000 customers still without power
- Quebec government issues an order in council establishing a financial assistance program for disaster victims
- January 14, 1998
- 50,000 people left without power in Montreal, 350,000 in Montérégie
- Temperatures continue to drop
- January 15, 1998
- Helicopter operation to reconnect Beauharnois generating station to Aqueduc substation and strengthen the grid
- Deicing continues in downtown Montreal
- January 16, 1998
- Quebec government and Hydro-Québec start countdown to rebuilding lines in Montérégie
- January 17, 1998
- 256,000 customers still without power
- Generators, blankets, food, and firewood arrive from all over Quebec
- January 27, 1998
- 62,000 customers still without power
- February 6, 1998
- Power restored to last customer
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