The following are past news items relating to the Ice Storm.

January 14th Headlines - 1:30 AM - By Nicole Lascelle

• Fiona Downey at CBC Radio interviewed Sharon Tucci about this site at 11:00 pm 01/13/98. Word is starting to get around!
• 534,500 customers are now without power in the Quebec region.
• Most of the Eastern Township region has now regained power.
• People are still asked to avoid the downtown area tomorrow.
• CECM teachers are asked to report on Thursday and school will resume on Friday.
• All Montreal area universities will be closed until Monday.
• CBC Radio reports that temperatures are dropping rapidly
  currently it is -10 celsius in Montreal, with the low expected
  to reach -20 in some regions.
• Premier Bouchard and Prime Minister Chretien are still strongly urging those who are still left without power to seek shelter.
• Both the premier and prime minister are extending their request that downtown Montreal businesses remain closed through Thursday at midnight to allow Hydro Quebec more time to recover.
• Clean-up efforts are being hampered in the city of Montreal due to the massive amount of ice buildup. The city is experiencing some equipment breakdowns as a result of the difficult conditions.
• The city of Sherbrooke, which experienced power failures on Tuesday still remains in the dark. Extreme caution is urged while travelling through these areas as visibility is considered poor.
• The 1-800-636-2433 number is now no longer accepting offers of shelter, the line has been overwhelmed by generous citizens however they have reached a point where available space now significantly outnumbers the demand. As far as we understand, offers of food and supplies are still being accepted.
• The island of Montreal is entering a slow recovery phase, however the south shore remains in great difficulty.
• The shelter at Blue Bonnets race track now reports less that 100 people are in its facility tonight.
  

January 13th Headlines - 8:00 pm

• I now have a helper - Nicole Lascelle, a freelance journalist from Kirkland, Quebec who is compiling some additional information to add to the site. She's providing this news update.
• Current temperature is -3 degrees celsius,  temperatures will drop tonight to -17 degrees celsius.
• The number of homes without power increased by 110,000
  today, most of them in the previously untouched areas around
  Sherbrooke and Victoriaville
• Latest reports now indicate that 600,000 Hydro Quebec clients are still without power
• Hydro Quebec is still loadshedding. Areas that are being redistributed can expect blackouts of up to six hours at a time.
• Oasis concert cancelled at Molson Centre
  

January 13th Headlines - 7:00 pm

• Well, about two hours ago, city workers blocked off the area surrounding my building. A huge slab of ice fell off the roof, collapsing the roof of a truck and just missing the truck's driver. So, the block I live on has now been declared a danger zone like thousands of others throughout Quebec.
• Hydro reported that high winds in the Sherbrooke area caused the outages early today. They have also said that some temporary outages can continue to occur due to load-sharing.
• There are still more 593,000 still without power in Quebec.
• Out of respect for those without power, Hydro has finally turned off it's prominent sign in the downtown core. (!)
• Checks are expected to be available at city halls this evening. Many residents are upset that they were not delivered during the day as promised.
• Downtown businesses are complaining about being hard hit by the blocking of the downtown core.
• A consumer protection agency is making a list of companies that are jacking their prices up on needed goods.
• Some retailers and individuals are asking the provincial government to drop the provincial sales tax on essential items.
• To the shock of many, the Montreal Casino opened today.

January 13th Headlines - 4:00 pm

• Two site visitors have emailed us that over 70,000 homes in the Sherbrooke/Eastern Townships region just lost their power. This has been confirmed by Hydro Quebec.

January 13th Headlines - 3:00 pm

• Latest count on those without power in Montreal region and South Shore is 539,589, with 424,000 on the South Shore and 77,000 on the island of Montreal.
• People are still requested to reduce consumption of power as the system is still fragile.
• Soldiers on duty are now backing up police to help avoid looting, They have been given the same right as the police to force people to evacuate their homes.
• People are asked to avoid the downtown core until at least Thursday.
• No government offices are open.
• The only mail delivered today in the region was government assistant checks.
• The $70.00 vouchers will be available either today or tomorrow through municipal offices.

January 12th Headlines - 9:00 pm

• You'll find a partial list of the 150 towns and villages that Hydro Quebec says will not have power until at least January 19th here.
• I've heard two different sets of figures about current power outages: 604,575 and 589,100 in the Montreal area. I would have thought that the lower number was the most recent, but I heard it two hours before the higher one.
• Schools - downtown universities are closed until tomorrow evening, all public school boards in the region have announced they are closed tomorrow except for the Laval, Laurentian and the Outoais(?) school boards.
• Crime: Reports are that looting has been minimal - only 3 arrests yesterday. However, car thefts and fights are on the rise. Fights are occuring with people being confined for too long in close quarters.
• Old Montreal: For safety reasons, the city is not allowing people to go to the area in Old Montreal bounded by Berri, McGill, Saint-Laurent and Saint-Antoine.
• Phone Service: Phone service has been restored to all but 13,000. Of these, 75% are on the South Shore.
• Federal government employees are back to work tomorrow.

January 12th Headlines - 1:30 pm

• 39 seniors were rescued by the police. They were found in a residence, huddling together without electricity or heat.
• As of midnight last night, the Montreal area police gained the right to force people to leave their homes. This was a necessity as many seniors and others are unwilling to leave their homes, despite having no heating for several days.
• We're being assured that we shouldn't have any problems with obtaining milk and it should not be at a higher price. Many dairy farmers are able to use generators. Milk is now being sent to the maritime provinces for pasteurizing. Yesterday, half of Quebec's daily milk production was lost due to the inability to pasteurize.
• Over 4,000 in New Brunswick still have no power.
• Some areas are now being asked to cut down on their use of water.
• 75% of the streets in Montreal are now cleared of snow. The City is asking people to park their cars in areas without snow to allow snow removal trucks to clean up before tonight's expected 10-15 centimeters of snow falls. The City is also asking residens to pick up broken branches they see to make workers' jobs easier.
• The Victoria and Jacque Cartier bridges are still closed. Deicing is not yet complete. It is hoped that this will be done by the time the downtown core reopens for business.
• The government's 800 number is now open. You can call 1-800-636-2433 if you are able to provide shelter or needed supplies to those in need. The lines are staffed by around 100 people, but with over 1,800 calls being received an hour, it might be difficult to get through. In a strong show of community support, there are 4 calls offering help for every 1 needing help.

January 12th Headlines - 9:30 am

• For those in the state of NY who are unable to get out of their homes, they are being asked to make a "H" in the snow in their yards so helicopters flying overhead can see them.
• Considerable gains were made in the area of electricity overnight. At one point, the Montreal region was down to 525,000 households without electricity. However, in the morning there was another setback that brought this number back up to 655,000 province-wide.
• Police patrolling areas where the power is going back on are being reassigned to those neighbourhoods still without power.
• Most of the downtown Montreal core appears to have regained power Most businesses remain closed. No banks. No postal service.
• Additional warnings are being issued for people to be cautious about food compensation.
• There are no guarantees that power will remain on for those fortunate enough to have gained it. The Montreal region is only operating on 1 out of 5 principal stations. Hydro officials are saying that by Wednesday, a second one should be back online. This is more serious with falling temperatures today and a snow storm, or possibility of additional freezing rain, heading this way.

January 11th Headlines

• With additional troops being deployed, an estimated 11,000 soldiers will be helping in the regions affected by the Ice Storm by Monday. As well, further assistance will be coming from the United States.
• Police are now issuing warnings that people are going to homes impersonating hydro workers, advising them to leave their homes and then robbing the homes. Police say that hydro workers would never go to your door - it would be the police.
• Many schools and cegeps in the area are closed until either Wednesday or next Monday. All Montreal-area universities are closed until Wednesday.
• People are starting to get angry as we finish the 7th day. Emotions and blame for this are starting to fly.
• The government will start to issue certificates at the rate of $70 per person per week they are without heat. A home with 4 people would receive $280. These certificates will be issued starting on Tuesday and will be redeemable at any major financial institution. Better than nothing, but still a far cry from covering the suffering.
• An 800 number will be set up Monday for those with electricity to register and let the government know how many people than can put up in their homes.
• People are asked to avoid the downtown core unless absolutely necessary. However, downtown will be open.
• The crime rate is down 57% over last year due to increased patrols.
• The boil alert for water is over in Montreal, except for Montreal North.
• There are 900,000 households without power.
• Our power was restored around 3 pm.

January 10th Headlines

• 1.4 million households are without power in Quebec
• Fortunately, a generator restored heat to our building.
• We have some water, but it is unusable.

January 9th Headlines

• 1.3 million households are without power in Quebec
• At 2:00 pm today, after intermittent power, we lost ours entirely along with most of the central Montreal area. We also completely lost our water.

January 8th Headlines

• 950,000 households are without power in Quebec.
• The situation is expected to improve.
• We had problems with our phone lines from time to time. Minor power interupptions occured.

January 7th Headlines

• 450,000 households were without power by late in the evening.
• People are finding it difficult, if not impossible to find a hotel.
• Our power started to flicker.

January 6th Headlines

• 700,000 households were without power.
• Hydro Quebec asked customers to be patient as it might take some time to restore power.

January 5th Headlines

• Power has started to fail in various areas as we deal with heavy precipitation.