The December 2008 Northeastern United States ice storm was a damaging

ice storm An ice storm, also known as a glaze event or a silver storm is a type of winter storm characterized by freezing rain. The U.S. National Weather Service defines an ice storm as a storm which results in the accumulation of at least of ice on ex ...

that took out

power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

for millions of people in the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Southe ...

. The storm was deemed the worst ice storm in a decade for

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

and the most severe ice storm in 21 years for

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...

. Damage was primarily a result of fallen trees and fallen utility wires and

poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...

, 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. Days after the storm more than 800,000 customers were still without power. 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.

Response

The storm resulted in a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

being declared by

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

David Paterson David Alexander Paterson (born May 20, 1954) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 55th governor of New York, succeeding Eliot Spitzer and serving out nearly three years of Spitzer's term from March 2008 to December 2010. A ...

in sixteen

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Up to 300,000 utility customers lost service in New York's

Capital District A capital district, capital region or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any poli ...

. By Sunday evening, 14 December, 126,000 were still estimated to be without power. Fire departments in Albany and

Rensselaer County Rensselaer County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 161,130. Its county seat is Troy. The county is named in honor of the family of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, the original Dutch owner of the ...

ran non-stop all weekend answering calls ranging from fires to wires down. It is estimated that both counties received tens of thousands of calls by the Saturday after the storm. In

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

up to one million residents and businesses lost power due to the storm, causing

Deval Patrick Deval Laurdine Patrick (born July 31, 1956) is an American politician, civil rights lawyer, author, and businessman who served as the 71st governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. He was first elected in 2006, succeeding Mitt Romney, who ...

to declare a state of emergency and mobilize at least 500 National Guardsmen to help the clean-up efforts. Governors John Lynch of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

and

John Baldacci John Elias Baldacci (born January 30, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 73rd Governor of Maine from 2003 to 2011. A Democrat, he also served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003. During hi ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

also declared a state of emergency, and as of 13 December at least 400,000 customers were without power in New Hampshire, and at least 172,000 were without power in Maine. This total in New Hampshire was more than five times larger than those who lost power in the ice storm of 1998, previously the most devastating storm on record. It was also reported that over 30,000 customers were left without power in

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

, and up to 3,700 customers were left without power in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. The

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

of Northeastern New York opened multiple shelters around the Capital District to give residents a warm place to stay and eat.

Fatalities

At least four deaths were attributed to the storm. Three of them were due to

carbon monoxide poisoning Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide (CO) at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as "flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Large e ...

, the source of which were gas-powered generators that were used indoors. One carbon-monoxide-related death was in New Hampshire, and the other two were in New York. The fourth fatality occurred in Massachusetts. A

public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...

employee was found in a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

after having gone missing when investigating damage to trees.

Aftermath

Hotels, hardware stores, malls, and restaurants that either had power or a generator saw a boom in business during the entire weekend as many residents went out to finish up holiday shopping, eat, and stay warm. Most schools closed on Friday 12 December, and some colleges ended the semester early due to the severity of the storm. Fourteen days after the storm hit, several thousand homes throughout New Hampshire were still without power, which in some cases resulted in threats being made against workers of Public Service Company of New Hampshire (a subsidiary of

Northeast Utilities Eversource Energy is a publicly traded, Fortune 500 energy company headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, and Boston, Massachusetts, with several regulated subsidiaries offering retail electricity, natural gas service and water service to appro ...

), the principal electricity supplier of New Hampshire. Similarly, there were many people in

without power for up to two weeks, raising many questions about the slow response of some utility companies. Several weeks after the New England storm, a similar ice storm struck the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

, knocking out power to a million people and leading to at least 38 deaths.

Media and coverage

The storm and its aftermath were covered extensively by local newspapers such as ''

The Keene Sentinel ''The Keene Sentinel'' is an independently owned daily newspaper published in Keene, New Hampshire. It currently publishes six days a week. The ''Sentinel'' is the fifth oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States, having operate ...

'' and the ''

Monadnock Ledger-Transcript The ''Monadnock Ledger-Transcript'' is a twice-weekly newspaper based in Peterborough, New Hampshire, and covering the Monadnock Region. It was formed in September 2006, when the 50-year-old ''Monadnock Ledger'' bought the 150-year-old ''Peterboro ...

'' in New Hampshire. Books detailing the storm's toll include ''The Weight of the Ice'' by David Eisenstadter, ''Black Ice'' compiled from various New Hampshire authors, and ''Ice'' by the staff of ''The Keene Sentinel''.

Gallery

Image:20081214-shrewsbury-ice-storm-damage-looking-towards-church-1.jpg,

Shrewsbury, Massachusetts Shrewsbury (/ˈʃruzberi/ ''SHROOZ-bury'') is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Shrewsbury, unlike the surrounding towns of Grafton, Millbury, Westborough, Northborough, Boylston, and West Boylston did not become a ...

town square after the storm Image:2008NYSIceStorm2.JPG, Power lines support ice-covered branches in

Brunswick, New York Brunswick is a town in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The municipality was originally settled in the early 18th century. During its history, it had been part of Albany County, Rensselaerswyck, and Troy, before its incorporation in 18 ...

Image:December 2008 ice storm Dutchess County 3.JPG, Landscape coated in ice in

Dutchess County, New York Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later orga ...

Image: Frozen_blades_of_grass_in_southern_nh.JPG, Frozen blades of grass in

Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Hillsborough County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2020 census, the population was 422,937, almost one-third the population of the entire state. Its county seats are Manchester and Nashua, the state's ...

Image: Downed tree snowmobile path dec 2008.JPG, A broken tree branch, suspended from luckier trees, hanging over a snowmobile path in a forest in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Image: Frozen evergreens december 2008 ice storm.JPG, A frozen forest in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Image: Frozen forest behind swingset dec 2008 ice storm.JPG, A frozen forest behind a swingset in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Image: Frozen lawn with trees december 2008 ice storm.JPG, A frozen lawn and trees with houses in background, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Image: 2008NYSIceStorm.JPG, Damage in

North Greenbush, New York North Greenbush is a town in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. North Greenbush is located in the western part of the county. The population was 13,292 at the 2020 census. The town has three main hamlets, Wynantskill in the northeaster ...

after the storm Image: Winter_08_124.jpg, Damage in

Clifton Park, New York Clifton Park is a suburban town in Saratoga County, New York, United States. According to the United States Census Bureau, the 2020 population was 38,029. The name is derived from an early land patent.Bits and Pieces of Saratoga County History by ...

after the storm File:December 2008 ice storm damage at Storm King trailhead.jpg, Damage at the Storm King Mountain trailhead,

Cornwall, New York Cornwall is a town in Orange County, New York, United States, approximately north of New York City on the western shore of the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was at 12,884. Cornwall has become a bedroom community for area t ...

References