The 1998 Ice Storm Was the Most Expensive Natural Disaster

Question

Examlex · Accepted Answer

The Answer is meterological conditions: high over Bermuda,a low in the Mississippi Valley drove warm Gulf air north.It met a wedge of cold Arctic air driven south by a high Arctic air pressure system over Hudson's Bay.This cold wedge settled into the St Lawrence and Ottawa Valleys.The moist warm air,riven over the cold air,cooled and condensed,resulted in rain which super cooled and became freezing rain.This system was stationary for ~ a week and 10 cm of ice fell over an 80 hour period.
damage: 1000 steel power poles and 12000 km of line were damaged led to 5 million people without power,some for over three weeks.45 people were killed and 1000 injured directly from falling ice,and indirectly from hypothermia,house fires and carbon monoxide poisoning-while people tried alternative means to stay warm
Crops were lost,trees damaged (maple industry severely affected),and milk industry affected as no refrigeration was possible.
mitigation: redundancies for power grid,individual or local back up for power and essential services.Redundancies for communication,education and emergency preparedness if power goes out.

The 1998 Ice Storm Was the Most Expensive Natural Disaster

Definitions: