My memory was off, January, 1978. The storm in this case was particularly challenging, for power, and for load on structures. Over a foot of snow, that then changed to freezing rain. The snow weighed down the trees (and the roof), the the freezing rain increased the weight, but the drains on the roof were plugged with snow. The roof came down just hours after UCONN had a basketball game.
For us, there were trees down everywhere, and the roads covered in ice. Ice that was over an inch thick on our street. You could walk on the sheet of ice that was on top of all that snow. Plows couldn’t get out, or climb hills, and the utility trucks couldn’t, either, right after the storm brought down a record number of trees with the weight.
I am not faulting the power company. The mixed precipitation was epic. Never seen anything like it, with that much ice on top of the snow.
But it was 6 days without power - and without power, in January, we had no heat. We had some wood for the fireplace, and went through all of it. The fireplace was a luxury, not a source of regular heat, but thank goodness for the backup, and thank goodness that we were big campers - so, sleeping bags for warmth, Coleman lantern for light (once all the batteries died, which was night one or two). Fortunately, any food we had kept just fine in the snow. No spoiling despite the loss of the refrigerator. Even more fortunate - we had a well that was significantly up the hill, and had water pressure. Cold, but you could cook, wash, and flush.
And it was six days before the roads were cleared enough to drive on.
No 4WD anything was negotiating our hill that was covered in ice and snow. No cars for six days was eerie as well. So quiet.
So - what did I learn?
You might not be able to get out, to anything, for a week when a true weather disaster strikes. No food, no fuel, no medicine. Better hope the water stays on - or it’s going to get even harder.
On January 18, 1978, at about 4:20 in the morning, the Hartford Civic Center roof collapsed.
connecticuthistory.org
