This Month in Canadian Military History
“Operation Recuperation” and the Great Ice Storm of January,1998
Between January 5th and January 10th, 1998, a combination of weather systems created a freezing rain superstorm that would cover the heavily populated areas of eastern Ontario and southwestern Quebec with up to 130mm of ice. Freezing rain is not uncommon in the St. Lawrence valley, but usually it only lasts for a few hours and leaves a few millimeters of ice on the ground. In January 1998, the rain fell for 80 hours. Power lines and transmission towers snapped and crumpled under the weight of the ice. 4 million people across southern Quebec, eastern Ontario, and western New Brunswick were soon without electricity, heat, and water. To make matters worse, after the freezing rain had passed a cold front blew in and the temperature in those areas plummeted.
Transmission towers after the storm
With the worsening situation, and with many communities declaring states of emergency, on January 7th, the provincial governments of Quebec, New Brunswick, and Ontario appealed to the federal government for military aid. “Operation Recuperation” was launched on January 8th under the leadership of Brigadier General Rick Hillier, Commander, 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade.
It was not the first time the Canadian Forces had been called out to help combat the effects of a natural disaster. The year before, Manitoba experienced catastrophic flooding from the Red River and 8700 troops had been mobilized to help in that emergency. “Operation Recuperation” would end up requiring almost twice that number. It would become the largest operational deployment of Canadian military personnel since the Korean War and the biggest deployment of Canadian troops to serve on Canadian soil in response to a natural disaster.
Canadian Force members from 200 units across the country descended on the worst hit areas and immediately got to work. Emergency shelters were set up, supplies delivered, debris removed, and 100,000 civilians evacuated to safety. Despite these efforts,28 people would lose their lives to hypothermia, or carbon monoxide poisoning from faulty portable heaters. To prevent further loss of life, and to restore order, the power would have to be restored.
CP-140 “Aurora” aircraft from 14 Wing, Greenwood, Nova Scotia, used their state of the art imaging equipment to photograph the downed power lines and utility polesenabling repair crews to pinpoint the most serious damage. Military engineers and technicians worked unceasingly with civilian hydro and telephone crews to repair and replace the power grid and utility infrastructure and bring back the lights, heat and water.
Engineers from 5 Régiment de Génie de Combat help rebuild pylons near Drummondville
Not only people were affected by the storm. Farmers could not provide heat and water to their cattle, and many animals perished. Barns collapsed under the weight of the ice, killing the livestock inside. The military did its best to supply farms with generators and fuel to keep their operations going, but in many cases they were too late.
Millions of trees were felled by the accumulating weight of ice, with commercial orchards and Quebec’s maple sugar industry suffering devastating blows. Ornamental trees fared no better. Montreal’s Mount Royal Park lost so many trees that it looked more like a logging campthan a public park.
Victims of the Ice Storm; dead cattle near Brockville, Ontario
Troops from CFB Petawawa clearing debris in rural Quebec after the storm
The storm brought out the best in many people. Neighbors opened their homes to the less fortunate, and communities pooled their resources to help ease the suffering. Donations flowed in to the Canadian Red Cross’ Ice Storm Relief fund from across the country. But the storm also provided criminals with opportunities to loot and steal from the most devastated areas, especially around Montreal. On January 13th, at the request of the Province of Quebec, CF members assumed the powers of peace officers to assist local law enforcement in quelling these criminal activities.
The Great Ice Storm of 1998 would bring terrible suffering and hardship to millions of people in Canada and the United States. Final estimates of the damage caused by the storm ranged from $5 – 7 billion US. It would cost the Government of Canada millions todeploy troops and provide emergency aid, but these actions would greatly help to restore its image, and increase popular support for the Canadian Forces, especially in Quebec.
A soldier clears ice from the beams of the Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal