December 2008 New England and Upstate New York Ice Storm - Aftermath

Aftermath

Hotels, hardware stores, malls, and restaurants that either had power or a generator saw a boom in business during the entire weekend as many residents went out to finish up holiday shopping, eat, and stay warm. Most schools closed on Friday, 12 December, and some colleges ended the semester early due to the severity of the storm.

Fourteen days after the storm hit, several thousand homes throughout New Hampshire were still without power, which in some cases resulted in threats being made against workers of Public Service Company of New Hampshire (a subsidiary of Northeast Utilities), the principal electricity supplier of New Hampshire.

Similarly, there were many people in Massachusetts without power for up to two weeks, raising many questions about the slow response of some utility companies.

Several weeks after the New England storm, a similar ice storm struck the Midwestern United States, knocking out power to a million people and leading to at least 38 deaths.