Great Ice Storm of ‘98
From January 4 to 10, 1998, the North American Ice Storm affected Atlantic Canada, southern Quebec, eastern Ontario, northern New York and northern New England. The storm was also responsible for rain and flooding in the Appalachians.
* Total damages: $5–7 billion.
* About 900,000 households without power in Quebec, 100,000 in Ontario.
* Prolonged freezing rain brought down millions of trees, 120,000 km of power lines and telephone cables, 130 major transmission towers each worth $100,000 and about 30,000 wooden utility poles costing $3,000 each.
* About 100,000 people had to take refuge in shelters.
* the storm led to the most massive deployment of Canadian military personnel since the Korean War, with over 15,784 Canadian Forces personnel, including 3,740 reservists deployed in Ontario (4,850) Quebec (10,550) and New Brunswick (384).