10TH Anniversary of the ICE RAIN CRISIS... LA CRISE DU VERGLAS
by Luciano Pimentel
Where were you in 1998?
I remember it very well...
Or do I?
"It was the best of times -
"It was the best of times -
it was the worst of times"
would apply very well to this, yes...
would apply very well to this, yes...
Most of Quebec was left without electricity
for a good chunk of the first two months of 1998
when the entire province was hit,
out of the blue almost, by an ice storm
whose intensity and repercussions
took EVERYONE by surprise...
Lucien Bouchard was, at the time, the ruler...
Pardon, the prime minister of Quebec.
To his credit (as to mine - for he is, after all
my namesake and my lookalike too, in a way)
he had poise and leadership,
great commander-in-chief qualities
and generalship
exactly when it was
most desperately needed.
One of the few times
that I was proud of my namesake there...!
At the height of the crisis, many volunteers,
social workers, police and the army
were dispatched onto the streets to go door-to-door
and fetch every recalcitrant or cranky party
that would not leave their unheated home...
They could simply not be left in their homes,
with no heat, food or supervision as it was -
for back then, as is the case now, many are they
who count among the elderly and lonely
retirees who live absolutely alone
and cannot fend for themselves in such
daily activities as going to the bathroom
or dusting off the furniture - much less
dealing with such a crisis...
out of the blue almost, by an ice storm
whose intensity and repercussions
took EVERYONE by surprise...
Lucien Bouchard was, at the time, the ruler...
Pardon, the prime minister of Quebec.
To his credit (as to mine - for he is, after all
my namesake and my lookalike too, in a way)
he had poise and leadership,
great commander-in-chief qualities
and generalship
exactly when it was
most desperately needed.
One of the few times
that I was proud of my namesake there...!
At the height of the crisis, many volunteers,
social workers, police and the army
were dispatched onto the streets to go door-to-door
and fetch every recalcitrant or cranky party
that would not leave their unheated home...
They could simply not be left in their homes,
with no heat, food or supervision as it was -
for back then, as is the case now, many are they
who count among the elderly and lonely
retirees who live absolutely alone
and cannot fend for themselves in such
daily activities as going to the bathroom
or dusting off the furniture - much less
dealing with such a crisis...
Hypodermia and dehydration
were very real dangers
for all of these people.
Danielle Laporte and Germain Duclos
were two of the "guardian angels"
who assisted with social care work,
often guiding the elderly and difficult patients
to accept being taken in by the healthcare system.
Danielle had requested a reprieve
after many days of work without respite -
but since there was no relief on the way,
no one else available to readily step in
and replace them, she reconsidered
and chose to stay, mainly to assist Germain,
her companion both at and off work.
Danielle last helped a very cranky old woman
to simply accept to be taken to the hospital.
The old lady was brought to the hospital,
eventually, but a mere day later, she died.
She had a most malicious type of influenza
and had, unbeknownst to all,
transmitted the virus to her benefactor.
Yes - Danielle was to die too.
A month earlier,
Danielle had written a fairytale
for the children's care department
of the hospital in which
she helped patients the most.
It is reminisced about, by Germain,
that it was "très singulier"
- i.o.w. very singular -
that she wrote such a story
(un conte)
which featured
all the elements
that foreshadowed
what she herself
was going to become undone by
within a mere month or so...
Her story was about two children
who get lost in the woods
because of 'verglas' (ice rain)
and then, even in this type of tale,
they do die...
Their mother finds them though
and gives them a piece of her heart
so that they can survive -
and the children come back to life.
Happy ending.
In real life,
Danielle had, of course, heart failure
due to the virus that she contracted.
Germain recalled that she was hesitant
about how to end her story, too...
It was almost a reflection
of her desire to rewrite
her own ending
manifesting itself there,
way ahead of the sad events.
All this touching reminiscing took place
and was recorded for posterity
at the every end of a 2005 documentary
that relates many stories that happened
around "la crise du verglas" -
on a Historia TV show called "Tragédies"
that focuses on many such
calamitous events...
Danielle Laporte's story
is the only truly tragic story
that is retold there, though -
for, the rest of the interviewed parties
that agreed to participate to this show
and the episode on the Ice Rain Crisis
were all met with happy endings.
Louis-Marc Chicoine, a cook who worked
for the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Montreal,
met his bride during the crisis -
a woman that he thought, at first,
to be totally unreachable before,
of his own humble admission.
They met while doing volunteer work
at the height of the crisis.
Another couple reminisced
about how circumstances led them
to wind up back in the room
where their baby girl was conceived -
for the woman to deliver the baby!
Another volunteer worker,
married to an SRC-TV reporter
who bears a very literary name,
(Alexandre Dumas - would you believe)
talked about the improbable fire in her home
in the midst of all of her own helpful work -
which required her going home at midnight
and getting ready to go back to the shelter
around 6AM, every single day...
Her home was rebuilt - so, it was bad luck
but not as "tragic" as other stories were,
alas, most of them
untold stories...
Many died during that crisis.
27, if I remember the number right.
Many more were scarred for life.
As the new Mrs. Chicoine noted so well,
during the height of this crisis,
a newfound solidarity emerged.
Everyone was solidary and helpful -
no longer was there individualism
and solitary lifestyles,
in complete anonymity -
no, fraternity actually existed once more!
It was all lost when electricity was re-established,
as everyone returned to their modern world's
instilled and execrable individualistic attitude...
Everyone returned to
"uncaring mode", basically...
Everyone became,
once again, in effect,
the antithesis to
caring Danielle Laporte
who gave her life
to be there for others.
To all those who died during the crisis -
to Danielle Laporte and all the nameless ones -
this piece is dedicated.
None of you will ever feel cold -
ever again.
+++
Danielle Laporte and Germain Duclos
were two of the "guardian angels"
who assisted with social care work,
often guiding the elderly and difficult patients
to accept being taken in by the healthcare system.
Danielle had requested a reprieve
after many days of work without respite -
but since there was no relief on the way,
no one else available to readily step in
and replace them, she reconsidered
and chose to stay, mainly to assist Germain,
her companion both at and off work.
Danielle last helped a very cranky old woman
to simply accept to be taken to the hospital.
The old lady was brought to the hospital,
eventually, but a mere day later, she died.
She had a most malicious type of influenza
and had, unbeknownst to all,
transmitted the virus to her benefactor.
Yes - Danielle was to die too.
A month earlier,
Danielle had written a fairytale
for the children's care department
of the hospital in which
she helped patients the most.
It is reminisced about, by Germain,
that it was "très singulier"
- i.o.w. very singular -
that she wrote such a story
(un conte)
which featured
all the elements
that foreshadowed
what she herself
was going to become undone by
within a mere month or so...
Her story was about two children
who get lost in the woods
because of 'verglas' (ice rain)
and then, even in this type of tale,
they do die...
Their mother finds them though
and gives them a piece of her heart
so that they can survive -
and the children come back to life.
Happy ending.
In real life,
Danielle had, of course, heart failure
due to the virus that she contracted.
Germain recalled that she was hesitant
about how to end her story, too...
It was almost a reflection
of her desire to rewrite
her own ending
manifesting itself there,
way ahead of the sad events.
All this touching reminiscing took place
and was recorded for posterity
at the every end of a 2005 documentary
that relates many stories that happened
around "la crise du verglas" -
on a Historia TV show called "Tragédies"
that focuses on many such
calamitous events...
Danielle Laporte's story
is the only truly tragic story
that is retold there, though -
for, the rest of the interviewed parties
that agreed to participate to this show
and the episode on the Ice Rain Crisis
were all met with happy endings.
Louis-Marc Chicoine, a cook who worked
for the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Montreal,
met his bride during the crisis -
a woman that he thought, at first,
to be totally unreachable before,
of his own humble admission.
They met while doing volunteer work
at the height of the crisis.
Another couple reminisced
about how circumstances led them
to wind up back in the room
where their baby girl was conceived -
for the woman to deliver the baby!
Another volunteer worker,
married to an SRC-TV reporter
who bears a very literary name,
(Alexandre Dumas - would you believe)
talked about the improbable fire in her home
in the midst of all of her own helpful work -
which required her going home at midnight
and getting ready to go back to the shelter
around 6AM, every single day...
Her home was rebuilt - so, it was bad luck
but not as "tragic" as other stories were,
alas, most of them
untold stories...
Many died during that crisis.
27, if I remember the number right.
Many more were scarred for life.
As the new Mrs. Chicoine noted so well,
during the height of this crisis,
a newfound solidarity emerged.
Everyone was solidary and helpful -
no longer was there individualism
and solitary lifestyles,
in complete anonymity -
no, fraternity actually existed once more!
It was all lost when electricity was re-established,
as everyone returned to their modern world's
instilled and execrable individualistic attitude...
Everyone returned to
"uncaring mode", basically...
Everyone became,
once again, in effect,
the antithesis to
caring Danielle Laporte
who gave her life
to be there for others.
To all those who died during the crisis -
to Danielle Laporte and all the nameless ones -
this piece is dedicated.
None of you will ever feel cold -
ever again.
+++
Labels: commemorative, ice rain, verglas
posted by Luminous (\ô/) Luciano™ @ 5:04 AM
3 comments
