TSUNAMI - ICE STORM

THE WORLD

DISASTERS

Ice Storm

            Canada is accustomed to the cold, but the storm of January 1998 caused a national emergency. Freezing rain clamped provinces such as Quebec and Ontario under a mantle of ice. Heat and lighting were cut off and the country's economy shut down,as millions were stranded in their freezing homes. Over 11,000 troops were mobilized to help restore power - the biggest military call-up in Canada's peacetime history.

Frozen solid
       freezing rain is different from hail or snow. Each drop is a water-filled ice bomb, exploding on contact with a cold surface and freezing instantly into a hard, clear glaze of ice.