On January a devistating Ice Storm hit the NorthEastern section of the United States and Canada. Our section of Northern New York State was very hard hit; over 100 thousand people were without power, many of them for up to four weeks. Over 20,000 power poles were felled by the ice and the Black River crested at 16 feet over flood stage. Here are some of the stories, as told by fourth graders in West Carthage, one of the communities in the center of the destruction.
The big ice storm!
It knocked down trees, power lines and
even flooded houses. The thumps of trees were like gunshots;
so loud you could hear them all the way down the street. The
water was up on the parking lot of Jreck Subs and Eckerds. The
water was moving so quick you could hear the waves splashing
back and forth.
We lost power on the 8th about 11:00 a.m. Our extended
family is so big we share 3 big generators. We get the
smallest one during the day and someone else gets it at night.
We did not really lose heat because we could not go anywhere.
One of my mom's friends came over to take baths and
showers. They also did their laundry. They came over the
Monday after the storm and then the day after.
We lived pretty much the same. We cooked everything on
the grill. We listed to the radio a lot because my mom wanted
to know everything that was going on. On our land all the tops
of trees were gone.
We were worried about our pipes freezing and breaking.
I was worried about my favorite aunt because she had no power
for a long time. I was glad because we had no school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BY: TARA
ICE STORM 1998 !!! Dedicated to my parents
We lost power on Thursday !
I had just finished my eating my breakfast.
We didn't lose any heat . We cooked and kept
warm because we have a wood stove.
We stayed at home.
I got to sleep in my own bed. It was mostly
boring, because you couldn't go outside because
of the falling trees. We listened to the radio a
lot. Other than that it was a regular day!!!
JUST JOKING!!!!!!!.....
It was hard not to watch T.V., but instead I
played MONOPOLY and YATZEE a lot !!!!!!
EMILY
The Icebreaker '98 I lost my lights January 8th. I lost my heat but we had kerosene heater. I keep very warm. We cooked on the kerosene heater. We stayed at home. Some people stayed with us. My dad bought a 5000 watt generator. We sleep on the foor. We used the radio alot to hear the weather. Alot of trees feel around my house. The tree in front of my house were cracked and we thought they were going to falldown. The thing I hated was not having no super nintendo. I enjoyed it in the dark because it was fun. By: Rusty
Ice storm 98 We only lost power for two days because we Bought a generator because our house was starting to get cold but we had one room that was heated up. That was the back room And in my room you could see your breath. It was terrible out side. We had a lot of branches down. Me and my brother picked up most of the branches but not all of them. Josh
On January 8th we lost our power. They flickered for a while then by 11:00A.M. we lost them for good. At first we thought it wasn't anything serious but when we heard on the radio that it was going to be a while, we knew it was. My mom filled up water jugs for us to drink, then when we ran out of water we got out of the house and went down to the creek. That was pretty fun. We have a gas stove and a wood stove so we can cook. We had a lot of heat, my brother and I made our toast on the woodstove for our eggs. My grandma and grandpa live in Lowville and they did not lose any thing so my aunt and my cousins and we went up to their house, to take showers every other day. We played a lot of games and listened to the radio all the time. At night, we lit our lanterns so we could see and play and talk around them. We lost our big maple tree out front. My mom and aunts and uncle used to play in that when they were little kids like us. So that was sad to see it go down on our ground. We lost a lot of good trees out front and out back. In the spring we will clean them up. We got our power back after a week. It was nice to get lights. We had fun without power, almost like we were camping. It didn't bother us too much, except to hear other people on the radio that were worse off then us. That was sad to hear and I hope it never happens to us again.By MAUREEN
Operation: Ice!! '98 I woke up today and thought it would be a normal day. Then we heard about the storm and my mom started to get candles ready. After lunch the power went out. We fed the
men that came to fix our lines we gave them sandwiches and we gave coffee
to the other men. We where without power for exactly one day and two hours. My aunt stayed with us. We went to all of the donation places because my aunt had no food at her house . I helped her. When we got to Copenhagen, it was terrible! It looked as if some of the of the trees were sad it was really weird. We had at least four inches of water in our basement. That night we wrapped up in blankets and listened to the radio. We slept in my mom's room because it was the warmest. We listened to the trees breaking. A branch hit our cable line, then early the next morning a truck hit our phone line. We wouldn't have t.v. or cable even if the power came back on!! The first night that my dad went to get my mom from work Watertown was pitch black. My dad said it was weird seeing Watertown in complete darkness so I was awed when he told me about it. I was surprised when the News called it the storm of the Century! My brother said it wasn't a big deal, but it was. Peoples houses were flooded and I was so thankful that Niagara Mohawk came and helped us . We thanked all the people who helped us out during the storm. I was glad that my Aunt and everyone was safe and I was glad that we were too. This story is for my children to look back at when they grow up so that the will know what a real Ice Storm is when they see one. I hope they will not be in a storm worst then this one. And thanks to all who were with us and I would like to thank these donation places: Black River Elementary, Carthage Fire Hall and Carthage High School for all their donations and help.Nicki
The Ice Storm of the Century It all started on a Thursday morning. My family didn't even know that there was an ice storm in effect for our area because everything looked fine outside. I just saw rain and frosty glass. We really didn't worry until our lights started clicking. Then finally the power went out while we were watching T.V. We thought the power would return since it came beck before, but we were wrong. We didn't realize how important electricity is until we had none. First of all, our heaters stopped running so we lost our heat. We stayed warm by staying under the covers and layering clothes. I wore two shirts, a sweater, jeans, a jacket, socks, gloves and a hat. I was cold! The food spoiled because the refrigerator shut down. We had to put food outside in a cooler. Since we had an electric stove, we couldn't cook.
Instead we used the bar-b-que grill for heat and cooking. We have a cordless phone that used electricity so our phone was out of order. We also had no T.V. or music. We only had a little radio and the batteries were almost dead, but we used it anyway to listen to updates on the storm and on school schedules. During the storm I had to stay home with my family because our cars were covered in ice and most of the roads were closed. There was even a curfew from 5:30 p/m/ to 7:30 a.m. We had to borrow a kerosene lamp from our neighbors. We also had one candle and three flashlights. My sisters and I made shadow puppets on the wall. It was so quiet and boring. We played board games during the day and slept early at night. We thought our power was going to be off for a week, but we were lucky that it came back after two days. During those two days of terror, my mom and dad worried about food and heat. They had to go to the store to buy bread and canned food. I was really worried about the Black River overflowing. I hated being without power because I felt poor. There was nothing to eat (normal meals), nothing to do, and nothing to keep us warm except our clothes. I was glad when the power finally came on permanently. I turned on the T.v., radio and lights. I just hope it will never happen again. Chantae
ICE STORM '98 THE ICE STORM MADE ME BORED DURING THE WEEK.
I USED MY COLEMAN STOVE TO EAT.
MY NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOR CAME OVER.
WE HAD A PARTY AT NIGHT UNTIL WE GOT POWER BACK.
MY BROTHER CALLED AND OFFERED TO BRING THINGS TO PEOPLE,
BUT NO BODY CALLED.
MY ROOM WAS PITCH BLACK AT NIGHT.
MY HOUSE WAS VERY BRIGHT BECAUSE WE HAD OIL LAMPS AND COLEMAN LANTERNS.
Joe
ICE STORM 1998!!!!!!!!! It all started Thursday when I was reading and my lights went out. I thought that my brother had played a trick on me. I asked my brother why he
turned my lights off.. but he said he didn't. Then I was really scared. I heard my mother say " Go get a flashlight, Ginger ". So I got off my bed and started toward the switch to turn the light on, but when I tried it, it wouldn`t work. So I yelled, "mom, the light's won`t come on." She said, "Duh, the lights went out." I said, "they did?" My mom said," Did you get that flashlight like I told you to?" I said." No, I didn`t." So I went looking for a flashlight. But I couldn`t find one. I didn`t notice how important the lights were until the lights went out. After three days they came back on. I said," Mom, I found the flashlight. " She said, "We don`t need it now." I said, " Thanks for telling me . " I was really mad, but I was happy that my light were finally on. Jessica
On January 8 1998 at 9:30 my power went out . We lost our heat but we had a kerosun heater. The first night we cooked on the camper stove. The second night we had a gas stove. We stayed at our own house because we didn't need to go to a shelter. Nobody came and stayed at our house because we didn't have power either. Ever time I took my dog out I heard sounds like fire crackers going off. My dog was really scared. The thing that I liked the most was that not having school for two weeks.
The thing that really bothered my family the most is a tree tilting toward my house . The thing that bothered me the most is that my dog took off in the woods but he is all right. My family was worried that my dog was hurt because he was gone all day. We had a generator but my grandmother needed it because her basement was flooding. Then they bought a generator and we got our generator back . My power came back on after three days it went out and came back on. It never went off again . In my front yard there were tree trees down . My grandfather had a tree fall down on his shed and a tree fell down on his driveway. My aunt and uncle had a river in their back yard; they had about a foot of water in their basement but the important thing is that we are all right. Gene
The Great Ice Storm Of 1998 Chapter #1 It started out like a normal day. At least I thought so. I woke up, brushed my teeth, and went downstairs. I hadn't even bothered to turn the lights on. But when I went downstairs, I noticed that the stair lights weren't on and I knew that something was wrong. Then I saw my mom on the couch and she said, " Caitlin, the power is out and it is said to be out for a long time." At first I thought she was kidding, but then I heard a huge crashing sound and knew she wasn't. It was a tree that had cracked almost in half. Mom thought that I was scared, but strangely I wasn't. Really, I stayed oddly calm throughout the banging and crashing of trees, while my parents were going wild! I don't know why. To me, it was just a storm. We could live. But to my mom and dad, the world had just come to an end!! But, there was one other person who stayed calm. But that's in the next chapter, so keep reading, The Great Ice Storm Of 1998! Chapter #2 The other person that stayed calm was my cat! My cute and cuddly cat! We were in this together. I was totally calm, until dinner. Then I went nuts and screamed," HOW ARE WE GOING TO COOK?" And that was the only thing that my parents were calm about. For Christmas, they had got my brother a portable camping stove that we could use and I was glad.
And my mom cooked even better than she usually does. That night we were still out of power. My brother and my dad lit the Coleman lanterns so we could see. Mom and I got little glass jars, put candles in them, and put them on the stairway to light a path. It really lit the stairway up. We also lit our oil lamps. Our light problem was gone, but there was another problem too. How could we keep warm? Dad and Jeff were up almost all night putting wood on the fire to keep warm. Jeff's room and my room were very warm and cozy. But there was one more problem. Our cellar was flooding!! My dad got totally freaked out. He called the fire department and they came and pumped all the water out. That was exiting for a while, but now we had another problem to worry about. How could we keep busy? We started out by playing CLUE. After one game of CLUE, we played MONOPOLY. It took two and one half days to finish. But I won ! The next night we played UNO. We also played TROUBLE. The next day we played RUMMY and BLACKJACK. They were really fun. Mom also read me books. One of them was the Egypt Game. The Egypt Game was a very good book. It was very exciting and mysterious. And sometimes it seemed like I was really a character in the story. Another thing that I did was listen to the radio. I would listen to the border, because it as the only station that played music. Every day Mom and I would go and check on my grandparents. My Grandma was very nervous and she wouldn't even light a fire in the fireplace. The reason that she wouldn't was because she didn't want to start a chimney fire because when she was a child her whole house had burnt down. Mom would always try to get my grandparents to come over to our house, but they wouldn't come. So we would bring food, candles that I made, propane and lamp oil. Every day we would go down to the Champion Fire Hall and get water. We didn't need them to pump the water out of our cellar anymore, but we did need water. We also got in on all the local gossip. Another thing that we did was go to the laundromat. In the middle of washing our clothes my Mom saw one of my Grandpa's best friends, Frenchie. He had been checking up on my grandparents too. Also he had talked to a repairman who had offered to give a generator to my grandparents. I really thought that was nice of him. The day after that, we went to my uncle's house. He kept saying that doughnuts weren't good for you, but he scarfed two or three of them down. Then we took showers. The next day, day seven, our power was back. It was GREAT !!! It was WONDERFUL!!!It was the BEST THING EVER!! SPECIAL THANKS I, Caitlin, would like to thank, Champion Fire Hall Niagara Mohawk Bell Atlantic Simon's Agway Johnson's Hardware Town of Champion Road Crew Radio Stations My Dad, my Mom, my brother, and all my friends
Ice Krispies We lost our power at 8:00 in the morning. We kept warm with blankets, but it was still pretty cold. My dad called around for a generator, but most of them were sold out. Since we lost our power at 8:00 a.m. I had already had breakfast. I had a flopper. For lunch we were set because my mom had made some vegetable soup in our crock pot and it was already cooked and it stays warm. For dinner we had sandwiches. I stayed at home all during the ice storm. Some of my family stayed with me and they are my Aunt Diane, my Uncle Joe, my cousin Mariah, my Aunt JoEllen, and my Grandma. There were alot of changes ike I couldn't sleep in my own bed I had to sleep in my sister's room. We used my little radio so much because my parents wanted to know how it was in other places. We have alot of damage around our home. There are down poles, one telephone the other electric. My family worried most about the down power lines. I worried most about getting electrocuted when the power came back on. Our family was very lucky because we had a generator. I think when the ice falls it sounds like Gun Shots. I hated the storm!! EMILY
ICE STORM We lost our lights around midmorning . We also lost our heat too. We had no school and no way to find a radio station. My family and me mostly ate sandwiches and chips. We manged to find 5D batteries, and found Majic103.5 with Johnny on the air. My family kept warm by a gas heater. No people spent time with us. We stood in the front of the table lighting candles at 5:45 Sunday afernoon. Sunday night we heard branches falling like boots hitting a wall. Saturday morning we got our lights back. And that's my story of ICE STORM OF 98.!!!!! Quentin>
The First Day of the Storm We lost are heat but we have a wood stove the blowers don't work. We remembered we had a grill so we used it. We went to my Aunt's, because they're nice. I got to sleep better. There weren't any people there. I was playing with them when the storm was over. Well, we did have a phone and a t.v. It worked clearly in my room. People did spend time with me. We used the gas grill to cook on. We used candles and flashlights for light. Jessie>>
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