The Forecast Calls For…

It was work as usual at Geiger Bros. (our parent company) but by 11 am I was doing a phone/ TV interview on CNN. Before the day was over I was fielding calls from as far away as Alaska. Maine had become the weather story for national media, and with good reason.

Five Inches of Ice

It was January, and no power usually means frozen pipes. But, Maine is the most treed state in the US (89% of our surface has trees). So, when 5 inches of ice clung to trees, limbs snapped and thousands of miles of electric wire came down with it. When one connection was made, another tree took it down again. The power workers worked around the clock for a month to restore power.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

While it was warm on January 8th (30 degrees F.) the temp started dropping as the calendar pages turned. The ice storm lasted January 8–10th but the clean-up took weeks. Utility crews from states as far away as Hawaii helped with the endless task of line repair. What I remember best was the genuine warmth and compassion neighbors showed neighbors. People who owned generators would go house to house to warm one before moving on to the next. If you owned a chainsaw, you helped clear trees off roofs. 

The sound of branches snapping sounded like gunshots or being in a war zone. The “shots” went on through the night and through the week. Today, we have lost many trees that were damaged that day. But Mother Nature replaces what she takes away.

Today, our power company has an aggressive tree trimming program. When there is the next ice storm (we’re expecting one on Sunday, January 12, 2020), some lines will come down but not as many. We’re much better prepared today than we were even back then.

Ice Storm 1998 At-A-Glance

Dates of storm: Storm formed January 4th and lasted through the 10thTotal without power: 4 million Fatalities: 35

Photo: Ice coated trees on the University of Vermont campus. Courtesy of Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation

  • Peter Geiger
  • #molongui-disabled-link
  • September 18, 2015
  • Winter Weather Lore and Wasps’ Nests
  • Peter Geiger
  • #molongui-disabled-link
  • July 6, 2015
  • Deer Me! 5 Tips For Repelling Deer
  • Peter Geiger
  • #molongui-disabled-link
  • June 26, 2015
  • The Surviving Snow Pile in Boston
  • Peter Geiger
  • #molongui-disabled-link
  • May 24, 2015
  • The Event That Put Lewiston, Maine On The Map