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By BETTY ADAMS
Staff Writer 01/08/2008

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COMFORT: Jeanie Pinney sits beside the woodstove at her home in Oakland. Pinney kept her family and friends warm with wood heat during the ice storm of 1998 when electricity was out for six days at her home. "We had heat, water, and grill for cooking," she said. It was just like camping."

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By BETTY ADAMS

Staff Writer

It's the sounds they remember most. And the generosity of neighbors and strangers.

Ten years after a devastating winter storm coated the region in a glistening sheet of ice, Mainers say they can still hear the constant and unsettling snapping of tree limbs, the pop of exploding transformers, the revving of chainsaws, the whir of generators.

They also warmly recall the many kindnesses that made life tolerable during the days and weeks they were without electricity, cable, phones and running water.

"A co-worker in Waterville who got her electricity back sooner than we did invited us over for showers," said Elaine Belcher, who lived in an apartment in Winslow. "What a pleasure that was. While we were there, she was a gracious hostess and offered us tea, coffee or hot chocolate. I asked for ice water and she laughed hysterically because she thought that was such a strange request. She probably still laughs about it."

The Ice Storm of '98 remains prominent in the memories of many Mainers.

It started on Jan. 7, 1998.

In its wake, it left more than 600,000 people without power.

"All night, I kept hearing loud noises like gunshots and some huge THUMPS," said Mary Saunders of Augusta. "When daylight came, I could see huge branches down all over the place."

Jeanie Pinney, 58, of Oakland, said her husband woke her up early the morning of Jan. 8, anticipating they would lose power. They did before she finished her first cup of coffee.

"As we stood by the back door, we could hear trees snapping all around and knew we were in for a long period of no power," she said.

"Little did we know it would be days and not hours."

Kevin Morrissey and his wife, Norma, lived in a heavily wooded area of Winslow.

"We had majestic pine and spruce trees all around us," he said. "I remember that first night of what I called 'guerrilla warfare' on those trees. I awoke around 3 a.m. to the sound of what I thought was gunfire out in the woods. We sometimes heard poachers at night, so I didn't give it much thought until the gunfire continued to echo through the woods.

"I finally realized what was happening just as the electricity went off: Tree branches were breaking under the weight of the ice, and it was happening frequently. As the morning wore on and dawn broke, I was able to see some of the damage being caused. A couple of large branches fell onto the roof but fortunately did no damage. The rest of the yard looked like a battlefield."

Penny and Bruce Pray of Winthrop also likened the destruction to a war zone.

"It often sounded like bombs being dropped around us. We even wore hard hats when we walked outside."

Lori Howe's family lived on Sewall Street in Augusta, within sight of the State Office Building.

"We were out of power for 14 frightfully cold days," she said. "The power company repaired whole neighborhoods first, then streets, then individual houses last. That was us."

Neighbors who got electricity restored sooner let them tap in through an extension cord.

Doug Saball of Unity worried his wood furnace was not up to the task of warming his family and his 4-foot iguana.

"My family (my wife and three sons) pulled out sleeping bags and wool blankets and slept together in our front room," he recalled. "To keep the iguana warm, I actually slept with it laying under the blankets next to my body. It did not stir all night and slept well I guess."

Ashley Merrill, who was 13 and living in Winslow when the ice storm hit, has mostly happy memories.

"We lost power for four-five days, but had a wood stove," she said.

"We all camped out in our living room with blankets and sleeping bags. It was the best fun I had had in a long time!

"My younger sister and my parents and I played board games and I read more books in those few weeks than I can count. Everything was done by candlelight. It was awesome!"

Mary-Anne (Boss) Pennington was 12 and remembers helping her dad take care of an elderly neighbor in Belgrade.

"She lived two houses from us, and we went over five times a day to start her generator, and make sure she was OK," Pennington said.

Michelle Begin, a social worker with Gardiner Family Practice, had another perspective:

"My favorite memory (if there is one) of the ice storm is my husband pulling me down the hill to our car on a piece of cardboard. I was eight months pregnant and VERY large. He was afraid I would fall so he made a makeshift sled for me.

"By the time we made it down the hill, the cardboard was all chewed up and my bottom was wet. Needless to say, I made it safely to the car and our daughter still gets a kick out of this story."

Kathy Hunt opened her Augusta home to friends from Whitefield. "The family came to our home to shower, eat, do laundry and spend some time with others. They lost their power for quite a few days, but it gave us a chance to become close and get to know each other," she said.

"I also had many of my own family members hanging out at my home throughout the many days of lost power. Also, I remember the people I work with (at the Workers' Compensation Board) bringing their kids to work with them. All the kids (including mine) hung out for about three days taking showers, watching movies, playing games in our conference room and eating lots of goodies.

"My family was very lucky, even in the bad ice storm of '98. It was nice to be able to share with others, who were not as fortunate."

"What a storm," Floyd W. Morin of Augusta recalled.

"I remember several things, but one that sticks out most important to me was going outside my trailer and hearing one heck of a noise from a branch breaking over my home. There was nothing I could do, as it was just dangling in mid-air and ready to fall directly on my roof.

"In the distance, I could hear chain saws from a truck that was approaching my trailer. It was one of the several crews that had come to Maine to assist. Once they got near my trailer (about 2 a.m.), I went out and begged them to swing the bucket loader they were using to take down any trees/branches heading for the road to the tree dangling over my roof. They did not hesitate to have this arm grasp the tree branch (with a circumference of at least 20 inches) and cut it to sit down beside my home.

"If it had not been for them, there is no doubt that this tree would have gone straight through my roof and destroyed my home."

Gloria Blier of Madison was living in Poland at the time, and went six days without electricity, taking in her daughter's family of five so they could stay warm by the wood stove.

"Hopefully, we'll never see another one as bad," Blier wrote.

Betty Adams -- 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

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