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WATCH: It’s been more than two decades since Quebec was battered by the 1998 ice storm that downed Hydro lines and left hundreds of thousands of families without power in the freezing winter. Global's Anne Leclair speaks to Montrealers who lived through the crisis – Jan 4, 2018
Twenty-one years ago, Quebecers across the province were forced from their homes after losing power for over 30 days because of the intense ice storm raging outside.
Nearly five million Canadians in southeastern Quebec, eastern Ontario and parts of the Maritimes were battered by three successive waves of freezing rain between Jan. 5 and 10, 1998.
WATCH BELOW: Memories of 1998 ice storm remain vivid
Even the metal towers that held up Hydro-Quebec’s grids collapsed under the weight of the 100 millimetres or so of freezing rain that left everything coated in ice.
Do you remember where you were during the 1998 ice storm?
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Nearly five million Canadians in southeastern Quebec, eastern Ontario and parts of the Maritimes were battered by three successive waves of freezing rain between Jan. 5 and 10. The Bradley family dine on take-out by the fireplace in Montreal on Thursday, January 8, 1998, as they spend their fourth day without electricity. A massive ice storm has left more than one million households and businesses in the region without electricity since Monday.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Robert Galbraith
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Montrealers relax in a shelter, which sleeps 200, in a school gymnasium in Montreal on Friday, January 9, 1998. An ice storm has left more than one million households without electricity in the region.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Robert Galbraith
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Hydro workers prepare equipment to replace downed transmission towers in St. Sebastien, Quebec, after an ice storm knocked out power to nearly 900,000 people in the province in 1998.
Ryan Remiorz/CP PHOTO
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Cpl. Chris Mckee (centre) along with other members of the Royal Canadian Dragoons clear branches from roads in the east end of Ottawa after a devastating ice storm struck eastern Ontario and parts of Quebec in 1998.
Jonathan Hayward/CP PHOTO
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Pedestrians make their way past broken branches as clean-up operations begin in Montreal following an ice storm in 1998.
Ryan Remiorz/CP PHOTO
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Members of the Canadian Armed Forces walk to their headquarters in Westmount on January 9, 1998, after the ice storm of 1998.
Robert Galbraith/CP PHOTO
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Residents get out the shovels in Montreal Saturday to get rid of five days worth of freezing rain and snow following the ice storm of 1998.
Rob Galbraith/CP PHOTO
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Memories of the great ice storm of 1998 in Ontario and Quebec.
Global News