The Sunday before Christmas southern Ontario was hit by a major ice storm. The last such storm in 1997 took out power lines leading to blackouts in eastern Ontario and Quebec. This time Toronto was hit hard.

While it gave the city a picturesque and Christmassy feel the storm creates more damage than beauty. The accumulating weight of the ice over the period of the storm caused power lines to snap like pieces of string. Many parts of the city were without power for up to three days, including over Christmas and Boxing day. Fortunately our home was not affected.

In addition to power lines the storm also caused hundred year old trees to also snap like twigs. Some trees fell on cars or houses causing major damage. The weather was still too cold and dangerously slippery to clear the branches. Another danger was the weight of fallen trees on house roofs along with the weight of the ice could cause roof collapse.

It took a couple of weeks after Christmas for city crews to be able to cut and clear many of the branches and trunks that were lying all over the streets and sidewalks like broken twigs. Even trying to walk on the sidewalks was an obstacle as fallen trees could be lying across the street for several days.

The Monday before Christmas many shopping malls remained closed due to damage and employees trying to clean up damage at their own homes