Last year, Mexico was hit by a lot of severe natural disasters, from earthquakes to hurricanes and corrupted politicians. Anyone could say that Mexican people are used to natural disasters, but 2017 was a particularly hard year for Mexico, a lot of people died during this events.
While I was looking at all these events from several kilometres of distance, I started to wonder what was the natural disasters that occur in Québec, I haven’t heard anyone talking about earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados or floodings. Like if nothing bad happens in this part of the world ever!!!
Even when all these types of natural disasters are not common in Québec, they do experience a natural disaster that most of the world doesn't know about. It is called “Verglas” in French, that basically means ice storm.
The "Verglas" occurs when the water from the rain is frozen by the extreme cold (duh!). The problem is not the ice, the problem is where is formed. There are 3 main places where the ice becomes dangerous:
- Roads. A difference with snow, the ice doesn’t give traction to the car tyres, the roads become a slippery slope. Causing a lot of traffic accidents per year.
- Trees. When the ice becomes very thick around the branches, the extra weight is more than what the tree can handle. It causes branches to be broken.
- Cables. Sometimes the branches fall on electric cables which is no bueno. Other times, the ice formed on cables, is to heavy for the structures supporting them, just like with the trees. Causing shortages of electricity.
The last big "Verglas" on Québec was in 1998, the electricity was out from days to up to a month in some places. Someone like me (that comes from a hot place) may think, “what is the problem? I’m sure that I could survive without electricity for one month". The problem is that a lot of people relly in electricity for heating their houses in winter... at -35º C that's a big problem!!!
During the ice storm of 1998, at least 35 people died, most of them from hypothermia, there were damages for millions of dollars and it led to the largest deployment of Canadian military personnel since the Korean War, with over 16,000 Canadian forces.
The "Verglas" is to Quebecois what earthquakes are to Mexicans, hurricanes to Caribbeans, drought to Africans, or floods to Australians. The planet trying to kill us all no matter where we are.
