There have been so many references to "prepare like you would for a winter storm," I decided to look up the ice storm back in 1998 in Maine.

On January 8, 1998 a severe winter ice storm hit Maine and parts of Canada. The next day, 275,000 people in Maine were without power. Two weeks later, the count was down to 11,000.

A few days later, it had dropped to 1,021 when another storm hit and the count went up to 75,000.

There were 110 Central Maine Power Company crews working on the lines and 175 "tree crews" brought in from as far away as Delaware.

Some people were without power for three weeks!

http://www.cmpco.com/sitemap.html

Link

-- Cant Say (Chicken@NoWay.Com), November 26, 1999

Answers

That's funny that you ask, because that also made me wonder when Koskinen started using that analogy.

Have you ever seen what happens when it snows heavy and continuous for 3 days straight? We're talking 20 feet of snow!! Lke you said, it can take weeks before things get back to normal.

I think that was what Koskinen had in the back of his mind. If things get really bad, he's going to say...

"I meant that it would be like the EFFECTS of 3 day storm, not that it would only LAST for 3 days!"

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), November 26, 1999.

It may only take three days for Y2K to destroy all of the infrastructure. I hope the horses and buggies survive the storm

-- Slobby Don (slobbydon@hotmail.com), November 26, 1999.

"I meant that it would be like the EFFECTS of 3 day storm, not that it would only LAST for 3 days!"

Hawk, too right. A few years ago we had a 6 hour ice storm, knocked out power for several days in many areas. Trucks couldnt get around for 2 days. People called in sick to work for 2 or 3 days.

A THREE DAY ICE STORM would be devastating.

-- hamster (hamster@mycage.com), November 26, 1999.

You got it hammy. Heck, how long ago was the hurricane in North Carolina and they are still recovering, it didn't even last 3 days. Or what about that one in Florida, a couple years ago. Guess that's how the damn politicians get into office, they know how to BS everyone and still cover their own ass.

I know what you meant Kosky, and it's pretty damn sneaky. A lot of people will end up standing in line for government grits when their 3 day supply runs out.

-- hawk (flyin@high.again), November 26, 1999.

There's one winter storm that lasted for a while. The last Ice Age. Maybe that's what they're talking about.

-- fatanddumb (fatdumb@nd.happy), November 26, 1999.

There was an ice storm in the Spokane, WA area that lasted for weeks. It was so severe that telephone poles and trees were shattering and it basically shut everything-including City government-down completely. Nothing moved. Business stopped. It was also (deliberately?) unreported in the news. Even on local TV here in Seattle they made nothing but general references. Spokane is not the biggest city in the world, but there were probably 500K people within the affected area.

-- Greg Lawrence (greg@speakeasy.org), November 26, 1999.

Hurricane Andrew was over Homestead, FL for only about one hour. It caused so much damage that the effects were felt for 6 months. Some of the residents moved away and never came back. For those individuals, it was truly "The end of the world as they knew it. If that's what a "one-hour" storm can do, I would think a 3 day storm would be pretty significant. There's always a good reason to be prepared.

I've been contemplating the nature of a "BITR." I was driving up to the Denver Preparedness expo a couple of weekends ago and hit a large bump in the road (I-25 has a lot of them.) The next thing I noticed was my front left hub cap rolling away in my rear-view mirror. My car was OK (except for the front-end alignment) but my hubcap was GONE. I got to thinkin', "man, if I was that hubcap, that "BITR" would really have SUCKED for me. I think that will be my new motto.

"A bump in the road can be disastrous, if you're the hubcap."

-- rob minor (rbminor@hotmail.com), November 26, 1999.

Cant say, your point is well taken but I never took the 3 day storm expression seriously. It always struck me as yet another focus group researched catch phrase this administration is so famous for. It ranks right up there with "100,000 new cops", "bridge to the 21st century", Clinton Haters","mean-spirited Republicans" and the like. It sounded good, focus grouped well and went forth to be spun. Why not a 2 day storm, or a 4 day storm, a 5 day camping trip or a 6 day safari? It simply was the best choice in the research study.

-- smfdoc (smfdoc@aol.com), November 26, 1999.

what about the blizzered of 1888 when all of NY city was parallized for days that is why they put in the subways.Read the story very interesting.

-- blizzy (bliz@zered.com), November 27, 1999.

Oh yeah, thats nothing. Last year, on Labor Day we had a huge thunderstorm roar through here at 2AM. It only lasted for A HALF AN HOUR, and 200,000 were without power, some for over A WEEK!(ME INCLUDED!!) That's when I truly GI'ed! I remember being cold and hungery, and suddenly I thought of conversations about y2k...

-- Crono (Crono@timesend.com), November 27, 1999.