Storm Keeps Pummeling Canadians

Canada’s worst ice storm on record wreaked havoc across five eastern provinces Friday, halting air travel, shutting down the nation’s busiest rail corridor and forcing 3 million people to endure another frigid day without power.

The death toll from the five-day onslaught rose to 10. The three latest victims were all from hard-hit Montreal: an elderly couple killed in one of many house fires and a 90-year-old woman who died of hypothermia after refusing to leave her unheated home.

Across the border, hundreds of thousands of residents in four U.S. states layered themselves in sweaters and stocked up on essential supplies as they prepared for a lengthy wait in the dark and cold.

More than 125,000 northern New York residents in five ice-choked counties remained without power for a second day as utility crews struggled to keep pace with the ongoing damage.

At New York Gov. George Pataki’s direction, the National Guard sent 1,500 soldiers into the area to help clear debris, evacuate stranded residents and set up and run portable generators.

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In Maine, Gov. Angus King told the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to “get out the checkbook” as his state began to clean up and reconnect more than 500,000 people who were without power.

Shelters were expected to be packed for a second day as residents abandoned their homes.

Eleven New Hampshire communities declared states of emergency as the ice storm dropped power lines, tree limbs and utility poles. The rush to restore power proved dangerous to four utility workers who were injured by falling trees. The town of New London, N.H., was virtually sealed off in a curtain of ice.

In Vermont, the winter quiet was shattered over and over by the sound of ice-coated tree limbs crashing to the ground.

About 500 National Guardsmen were called in to help 20,000 residents without power in Chittenden County in northwest Vermont.

Across eastern Canada, residents were finding ways to cope with the storm that upended routines.

Francine Allaire cooked on a barbecue in her garage, south of Ottawa, to use up freezer food that would otherwise thaw. Pete Nooyen, a dairy farmer southeast of Ottawa, shared a generator with a hog-farming neighbor to ensure their animals were cared for. Linda Ford packed up her two children to wait out the weather at a friend’s heated home.

“It’s just plain cold. You can’t do anything but sit there and freeze,” she told the Canadian Press from Osgoode, 20 miles south of Ottawa. “It was fun for a little while, but it’s just not fun anymore.”

Ford wasn’t alone in seeking warmth. Hundreds of Montreal residents abandoned their homes to take shelter at community centers and schools with generators.

“It’s a disaster,” said Colette Fontaine, who was staying at a makeshift shelter in Montreal’s Robert Bourassa Library. “I’ve lived all over Canada, and it’s the worst ice storm I’ve ever seen.”

The Insurance Bureau of Canada predicted that damage claims could top $350 million, which would make it the costliest natural disaster ever in Canada.

Airports in Montreal and Ottawa, the Canadian capital, were closed Friday. The national railroad, Via Rail, halted all service between Toronto and Quebec City.

About 3 inches of freezing rain fell on the Montreal area Friday, adding to the already thick ice coating tree branches. Uprooted trees and snapped-off branches littered rural forests and city parks alike.

Dozens of power transmission lines have collapsed under the weight of ice, and the provincial power company said repair crews were pessimistic about the pace of their work.

“Instead of taking three to five days, it’s going to take five to seven days,” said Diane Viau, a spokeswoman for Hydro-Quebec. “We’re looking at a variety of ways to accelerate our work, but I can’t say when exactly the situation is going to improve.”

The Canadian government deployed more than 4,000 soldiers in the stricken areas to help with relief efforts and to clear away fallen branches. Five soldiers were injured early Friday when a truck smashed into a military convoy between Montreal and Quebec City.

In Quebec, nearly 3 million people--40% of the population--were without power. In eastern Ontario, officials said more than 100,000 homes and businesses had lost electricity, and more than 20,000 homes were powerless in the Maritimes.