Can ice storms affect people and animals?

Answer 1

Certainly! The last ice storm I experienced we were out of electricity for 3 days which meant no showers because there was no hot water, no cooking because there were no microwaves or stoves. A lot of our food spoiled because the fridge got warm. People die in car accidents on the ice as well.

Answer 2

well... In February, when Washington practically shut down for four days because of unprecedented, back-to-back snowstorms, taxpayers paid for approximately $400 million worth of work that more than 230,000 sidelined federal employees did not do, according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. In addition to the costs of a non-functioning government, the region's private-sector economy also took a hit, with hotels and restaurants reporting cancelled reservations, and stores sitting empty with shoppers stuck at home.

Although figures for the total economic effect of this year's storm are not yet available, a study of Washington's last record-breaking snowstorm in January 1996 offers insight: In that month, sales of nondurable goods fell $152 million and rebounded by only $85 million the next month, according to the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University. So, the February sales did not compensate for lost revenue in January. Durable goods, such as refrigerators and cars, dropped by $42 million in January but increased by $177 million in February, compensating for January losses. "When you close down a community because the highways are closed due to snow and ice, economic activity slows almost to a standstill," says Richard Hanneman, president of the Alexandria, Va.-based Salt Institute, which has released two studies of the economic effects of snow and ice over the past several years.

This year's blizzards in Washington are just one example of the extreme economic impact of snow and ice control. Every winter in communities across the country, snow and ice derail local economies for hours, days or sometimes longer. However, with budgets in crisis in almost every state and community, many snow and ice control programs are in danger of losing funding. "States and counties are under incredible budgetary pressure at this time, and nearly every county and municipality is searching for projects and programs to cut," says Greg Cohen, CEO of the Washington-based American Highway Users Alliance (AHUA), which released on March 30 the latest study on the economic impact of snow and ice. "Unfortunately, many politicians do not think [through] the impact of cutting snow and ice control programs fully because when we aren't able to get to work or to shop, we end up further reducing tax revenue to these states and counties."

For city and county department heads responsible for clearing roads and bridges, understanding the economic effects of such storms can go a long way in helping them get the funding and equipment to do the job well.

AND

Between January 4th and 10th, 1998, parts of Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec were hit by 3 successive storm fronts that have been called the greatest natural disaster in Canadian history. The storm's greatest impacts were profound and lengthy disruption to daily life and far-reaching economic consequences. The total precipitation, which fell as freezing rain, ice pellets and snow, exceeded 73 mm in Kingston, 85 mm in Ottawa and 100 mm south of Montreal. Canada's largest recorded ice storms, in Ottawa in December 1986 and Montreal in February 1961, left 30 to 40 mm of ice.

The ice storm began as a low-pressure warm front from Texas and a high-pressure Arctic cold front moving in simultaneously. When the air masses collided, the warm air rose, keeping the cold air down. Snow melted at mid-level; without time to freeze coming down, it froze on the ground. There was little wind to disrupt the patterns and no sun to thaw the ice between downpours.

The thickening ice downed power lines, forcing 100 000 people to seek refuge in hotels, private homes or hastily assembled shelters. Several thousand kilometres of power lines and telephone cables became useless. Personnel from 14 UTILITY companies from 6 provinces and 8 American states worked to restore service. A state ofEMERGENCY was declared. The CANADIAN FORCES deployed nearly 16 000 troops in "Operation Recuperation," the largest-ever peacetime deployment. By comparison, the 1997 Red River and 1996 Saguenay flood relief efforts involved 8700 and 450 troops respectively.

The economic impact of the ice storm was estimated at over $1 billion. The Insurance Bureau of Canada reported 535 200 insurance claims after the storm, totalling approximately $790 million damage to homes, cars and other property. Canada's economic output declined by 0.7% in January, as business fell off in many industries. The combined changes in electric power and construction industries accounted for nearly 1/3 of January's overall drop in the GDP. Electric power systems alone dropped 14.2%. Overall, goods-producing industries fell 1.4%.

The geographic extent of the storm involved the area where nearly 1/4 of all Canada's dairy cows are located. There were 274 000 dairy cows in the areas of potential or actual power outages, 60% of them in Quebec. With no electricity to operate milking machines, cows could not be milked, making them vulnerable to mastitis, an inflammation of the udder. Where cows could be milked, many processing plants had no, or limited, power; farmers had to dump over 10 million litres of milk, valued at $5-6 million. Canadian farmers were able to send 1.5 million litres of milk to American facilities, which was subsequently returned for Canadian consumption. Although the decline in dairy production was relatively small, there is still concern that the dairy cows affected will never regain their pre-storm productivity levels.

The maple syrup industry was also seriously affected. Over 22% of all Canadian maple syrup taps bore the weight of over 40 mm of ice, including over 23% of Quebec's 21 million taps and 285 000 in Ontario. Quebec's maple syrup industry produces 70% of the world supply. The number of taps was sharply reduced. Millions of tree branches were damaged, seriously affecting sap flow. Domestic sugar maples grow larger than their natural counterparts, giving them more potential for ice damage. Falling branches and ice build-up damaged many of the pipes that channel sap. The Ontario Maple Syrup Producers Association estimated that it could take up to 40 years for eastern Ontario's production to return to normal.

Sources: School

Answer 3

by destroying nearly everything like it happened in Cadiz, Kentucky..

Answer 4

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