Behind the Lines: by David Heiller

David Heiller The ice storm of 1991 could just as well have been the ice storm of 1891 for a lot of people including our family. It happened last Friday night and Saturday morning, March 22-23. First rain fell, then sleet, then snow. They combined to break trees and power lines with a thick mass of icy gunk. Α lot of people were not only stranded, but they were stranded without electricity and telephones for quite a spell. Usually power outages last only an hour or two, which is a fine commentary on our electric utilities, both the co-ops and Minnesota Power. But this storm left both the telephone and electricity out at our house for 14-plus hours, from 11 p.m. to 2 p.m. the next afternoon. In an ice cave Us “young” people (say age 50 or less) don’t realize how much our lives revolve around electricity until it is suddenly not there. Sud­denly there is no light, no radio (and of course no batteries for the AC-DC radio), no refrigeration, and worst of all for a Saturday ...