State police zone commander recalls Great Ice Storm of 1998; vol. 3

Jan. 28—WATERTOWN — With his nearly 30 years in the New York state police, David J. Peters could tell you scores of stories involving that service.

But tales about The Great Ice Storm of 1998 seem to be frozen in time for him. He shared some of those stories over morning coffee earlier this month at Shorty's Place on Coffeen Street.

"My account is only a fraction of the total efforts that many agencies, as well as power companies, etcetera made to what I would consider a very successful recovery during a prolonged period," Mr. Peters said.

Mr. Peters responded to a request by the Watertown Daily Times seeking memories of The Great Ice Storm of 1998 on its 25th anniversary. Part 1 was published Jan. 14 and part 2 was published last Saturday.

Mr. Peters retired as captain, overseeing Zone 3 of the state police's Troop D. The zone consists of Jefferson, Lewis and Oswego counties. His last day on the job was Dec. 9, 1998, but he officially retired in January of 1999.

Mr. Peters and his wife, Marilyn, live in Cape Vincent, where they also resided during the ice storm. His recollections for this article are a mixture of written notes he made and his verbal comments.

Mr. Peters recalled telling his associates that the storm's aftermath and its effects on people would go in three phases:

"The first phase is they're going to be so busy," he said. "The second phase — the longer they go, they're going to get pissed off. And then, they're going to adapt. And that's just the way it went. It wasn't my first rodeo."

The official dates of The Great Ice Storm of 1998 are Jan. 5-9.

"With the sound of tree limbs breaking, I knew we were in trouble," Mr. Peters said.

On that first day of the storm, it took him 20 minutes just to pick his way out of the village of Cape Vincent as he headed to Zone 3 barracks on State Route 37, Pamelia.

"I had to drive across a few lawns and find a back way to get to Route 12E," he said.

"The first day, we went to 12-hour shifts," Mr. Peters recalled. "It took three personnel just to man the telephones at the Watertown zone headquarters due to the incoming calls."

During this time, state police handled their own dispatch calls. They weren't handled at a centralized center like they are now.

"Soon after the ice storm hit, Jefferson County activated the County Emergency Center in the bowels of the County Office Building," Mr. Peters said. "I placed two state police members there on the day shift and one on the night shift throughout the duration for liaison purposes. Jefferson County and Lewis County clerks each provided a fistful of maps for us to mark out, on an easel in my office, the power outages and the progress being made on a daily basis."

Meanwhile, Mr. Peters sought assistance to manage the situation.

"I brought Lt. Ed Grant from Troop D headquarters early on to assist with the daytime operations, which freed me up to deal with the big picture," Mr. Peters said, adding that it was the only time he had direct assistance of a commissioned officer in his years as zone commander.

"Not only did I have Lt. Grant to assist me, but I had a number of very qualified Zone 3 non-commissioned officers as well," Mr. Peters said.

Troop D commander Maj. James Parmley happened to be on vacation during the storm, Mr. Peters recalled.

"This allowed me to deal directly with Col. Robert Leu, field commander at division headquarters in Albany," Mr. Peters said. "He was outstandingly supportive, and anything I requested he granted without an eye blink."

Mr. Peters also recalled receiving key support from Darrell Aubertine, who had just become chairman of the Jefferson County Legislature, and declared a state of emergency.

"Chairman Aubertine hit the ground running and was very supportive," Mr. Peters said. "Throughout the duration of the state of emergency, I would not allow our troopers to enforce vehicular traffic during daylight hours. People needed to be allowed to go after whatever they needed in order to survive. During the hours of darkness was a different matter and only motorists were allowed when there was a bona fide reason."

Meanwhile, troopers had to look out for their own families.

"They weren't all in the same boat as I was," Mr. Peters said, recalling his wife alone took care of the home front.

"She kept the wood stove going, used it for heat, cooking, etcetera," Mr. Peters said. "We had no generator at the onset. On the third day without power, she waited in line for five hours outside Tractor Supply, then located in Fay's Plaza, for a load of generators to arrive. What she really wanted it for was to run the washing machine."

Mr. and Mrs. Peters ran a couple of 100-feet electric cables from the generator. They powered their home's washing machine, oil-fueled furnace and water heater.

"Very early every morning for close to two weeks thereafter I would take a cup of instant coffee out to the garage and fire up the generator," Mr. Peters said. "When I went back inside, I had I had hot water and the house was completely heated."

'The criminal element'

Within hours of power restoration in the city of Watertown, Mr. Peters recalled getting an advisory from city police chief Joseph Goss that "the criminal element was beginning to surface."

"I knew it was time to bring in more troopers and for a number of days we had 38 patrols, each with two troopers, around the clock," Mr. Peters said. "This criminal activity was at a standstill."

Mr. Peters noted "a couple more tidbits" relating to the storm:

"There was a radio talk show in Watertown that people called in to. One caller from Dexter told how he'd just gotten into his driveway and two troopers pulled in behind him. They helped him unload his new generator and set it up. Another caller told that the last thing he saw go by his home on Pillar Point was a state police car and the first thing that went by his home the next morning was another state police car."

Mr. Peters said he was also proud of the response by the area's volunteer fire departments, which provided food and shelter, checked on the health of community members and responded to calls.

"Fort Drum and its soldiers not only provided a lot of cleanup details but provided large generators to farmers, businesses and to my headquarters when our standby generator died," Mr. Peters said. "Also, I must mention that the correctional facilities both in Watertown and Cape Vincent provided many supervised cleanup details."

He added, "In the 29 years, up to the time of the ice storm I had spent in the New York State Police, 11 years as zone commander (Buffalo, Bath and Watertown), I have never been more proud of being part of this organization."