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I read the January recollections of Ice Storm ‘98 with interest. Two things stood out for me in the 10-year anniversary analysis: the remembrance of a sense of community and assurances that things would be different for us if this kind of emergency was reenacted.

Personal stories in Your Local Journal and many other newspapers recalled how neighbour helped neighbour, sharing from the woodpile and the pantry. Since I was on the East Coast, an area scarcely affected by the Ice Storm, I can only imagine through those reminiscences how the feeling of caring must have grown. I can only read about what it must have been like to go for so long without the comforts on which we rely.

In Canada, there were 30 deaths associated with the Ice Storm. People died from carbon monoxide poisoning or fire as they tried to provide power and warmth for their houses; they died from trauma when they fell from the roof clearing ice or skidded out on the treacherous roadways; and they died from hypothermia after too many cold days spent in their homes.

That anyone, anywhere in Quebec should die during prolonged bad weather is troubling, though not exceptional.  It became more overbearing for me when I learned that a woman right in Saint Lazare lost her life during le verglas.  Sadly, the public memory of deaths during the Ice Storm has faded and I’ve never known her name or even how she died. 

The meteorology of freezing rain is imprecise. Environment Canada says that predicting freezing rain itself is difficult. When we try to imagine a storm’s duration and rainfall accumulation amounts, there is little predictability. Perhaps it will not happen again in our lifetime.

We can even put our faith in the Hydro Quebec’s assertions that the blackouts of the magnitude seen during the Ice Storm will never happen again. After the Ice Storm, reports suggested that the electrical supply would be better protected if it were completely buried under ground. That never happened. We remain in the shadow of the tall steel structures that carry the power. There is a nagging principal of caution that motivates me to ask: Are we so brazen to conclude that we really could withstand a similar weather-borne threat?

The spectre of damage to the distribution system for our power supply raises a subsequent question: Are you prepared to live without electricity if the power goes off today? Many reports say that we are more prepared at every level, but I am as skeptical about our personal preparedness as I am about the ability of the electricity to flow unimpeded during a catastrophic event. I hope that our collective memory of Ice Storm ‘98 can recall the sadness of our losses, and in that we are working to be better prepared if there should ever be a next time.

So, I ask you this simple question: are you prepared to care for your household if the lights go out? Answer it honestly, for your family’s well-being. How long could you sustain yourself and your family without electricity? What about your pets? What would you do if the water system fails? Where will you get fuel? Where will you turn for information if there is a widespread emergency? Emergency preparedness organizations have checklists and strategies that you can use to be ready, just in case. Seek them out.

Plan for the unexpected; anticipate the unforeseeable: when it comes to life or death emergencies, these are the best adages that come to mind.