Ice Storm of '98: A Retrospective

[boston bean]

3. 2008 was a bad year for ice in the northeast.

December 2008 New England and Upstate New York ice storm

The December 2008 ice storm of New England and Upstate New York was a damaging ice storm that took out power for millions of people in those regions. The storm was deemed the worst ice storm in a decade for New England[2] and the most severe in 21 years for Upstate New York.[3] Damage was primarily a result of fallen trees and fallen utility wires and poles, which were coated in a heavy layer of ice. The storm raised heavy controversy over the slow return of power, as at the storm's peak as many as 1.7 million customers were without power.[4] Days after the storm more than 800,000 customers were still without power.[5] Almost a week after the storm still more than 100,000 customers were without power, affecting the holiday shopping season and crippling the business and transportation of many northeast cities for days.[6]

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Fourteen days after the storm hit, several thousand homes throughout New Hampshire were still without power,[18] which in some cases resulted in threats being made against workers of Public Service Company of New Hampshire (a subsidiary of Northeast Utilities), the principal electricity supplier of New Hampshire.

Similarly, there were many people in Massachusetts without power for up to two weeks, raising many questions about the slow response of some utility companies.[19]

Several weeks after the New England storm, a similar ice storm struck the Midwestern United States, knocking out power to a million people and leading to at least 38 deaths.[