IceStorm 98 Study

Ice Storm ’98 was the largest emergency to date in Canada. This project started out to record how organizations responded before memories faded and slips of paper were lost. It became that and more. In a real sense the record is a tribute to the communities affected and to the thousands of emergency workers. To paraphrase one of the interviewers, this is their story.

The Queen’s study examined local response to the ice storm in the area from Kingston to Brockville. Included in the study were the Cities of Kingston and Brockville, the Town of Gananoque, the Village of Athens, and the Townships of Frontenac Islands (Wolfe Island in particular), Front of Leeds and Lansdowne, Front of Escott, Front of Yonge, Elizabethtown and Rear of Yonge and Escott.

Represented are a variety of municipalities ranging from Kingston, the second largest city in Eastern Ontario (population: 110,000), to the Townships which, typical of many Eastern Ontario Municipalities, are largely rural and sparsely populated.

Approximately 200 interviews were conducted with a variety of responders including municipal staff and politicians, police and fire personnel, members of the media and the military, staff of local volunteer agencies, and staff of various provincial ministries.

Interviewees were asked to recount what they did during the Emergency and to comment on what worked well, what didn’t, and what they would do the next time. More than twenty-five post-storm reports were also collected along with newspaper clippings, other Ice Storm related documents and a variety of pictures and videos. All of the material collected is accessible through the Queen’s University Archives.

The Ice Storm Project office is scheduled to close in January 1999. Discussions are underway for further work that may give the project a second life. Part of the new project may be to produce a second edition of this CD.

For more information contact the Ice Storm office or Queen’s University Archives. Effective January 3, 1999 the telephone number at the office will change to (613) 533-2792. The e-mail address is: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Contact Stewart Renfrew at the Archives at (613) 533-2378 or e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Information should also be available on the web here.