Where were you during the ice storm of ’91?

Today, believe it or not, marks the 30th anniversary of the 1991 ice storm.

It began with rain on the afternoon of March 3. Overnight, the rain turned to ice, and many of us woke up to the gunshot sounds of limbs breaking and falling into the yards and streets. More than 200,000 homes lost power, many for as long as two weeks.

I was living in the city at the time, on Bedford Street just off of Bay. I have vivid memories of that day. Mostly I remember what a beautiful scene Mother Nature had painted, bathing everything in sparkling ice. And I remember how much devastation it brought to our street. Broken branches and fallen trees made the road impassible.

I also recall how everyone on the street came out to help clean up the mess. Several chainsaws showed up seemingly out of nowhere, and neighbors from up and down the street who rarely spoke to one another worked together to drag detritus into yards. As often happens during tragedy, community members came together without even being asked, to help one another out.

We never lost power, or even cable, that day, so we were one of the lucky ones. The following year, however, the city came by and removed a significant number of trees that had been severely damaged by the storm. Our beautiful tree-lined street looked almost bare.

I realized that day that the storm was a unique event, so I took several photos, which you see here. I wish I’d taken many more.

How about you? Were you living in Webster then? What was it like here during the ice storm of ’91? If you have any memories or photos from that day that you’d like to share, please send them along, or post a comment here or on my Facebook page.

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