“I was 12 so it was a blast. I remember no school for a couple weeks. I remember sliding down hills in recycling bins going about 30 mph. My father, brother and I would skate around our neighborhood, we would also dual-wield hammers and use the claws to climb hills like we were ice climbers. Good times.”

— Christian Boucher, Lewiston

“My dad drove over a dead power line and I pretended like I was getting zapped and it scared the crap out of my sister. I was in high school. Still makes me giggle today.”

—  Ricky Blouin, Turner

“I was 11. Whole family shared a bed to stay warm. Mom made oatmeal on the gas grill every morning. Icicles taller than me fell in the middle of the road for days from the power lines above — I wore a skateboard helmet while playing outside so I wouldn’t get my skull impaled.”

—  Joe Reaves, Lewiston

“Lost power for 9 days. Cooked on K1 heater and FEMA brought a meal a day for my family since we would not go to shelter. Stayed with our pets. Slept in (the) living room on mattresses.”

— Laurie Arsenault Tilton, Rangeley

“My husband worked overtime at the fire department. Since we had no power, I packed up four kids, a dog and a hamster and moved to my office in the industrial park. Co-workers still making fun of ‘Hotel Lavoie’ 20 years later.”

—  Shary Caya Lavoie, Lewiston

“I lived with my family of six at the time in a big log house in Greene. We were without power for 14 days. My sisters and I created a form of anti-dodgeball where you got points for not flinching or moving your head when a Nerf football was hurled at your face. We did every puzzle that we had in the house by hurricane lamp, twice at least.”

—  Amanda Carlsen, Winthrop

Trees bend low under the weight of a thick coating of ice in the Ice Storm of ’98. The road is also ice-covered. (John Jensenius/NOAA)

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