What happens at 00:00:01 on January 1? Try deadly, black, and
very, very cold.  By Jacques Leslie  A heavy ice storm is the
most double-edged of natural phenomena, embodying beauty and
menace in equally astonishing proportions. The first response is
usually awe: People find their muted winter world abruptly
swollen, slippery, and silver-white, as if everything has been
recast as a George Segal sculpture. Only gradually do they
comprehend that their elegant surroundings are also treacherous.
At 3 a.m. on January 8, 1998, Mitch Teich was awakened by what
sounded like rapid-fire rifle shots, and realized he was hearing
tree branches snapping under the weight of ice. Teich, a radio
reporter in Potsdam, New York, 20 miles from the Canadian
border, noticed that the electricity in his house was out, and
figured it might not come back on for a few hours. He pulled
another blanket over himself and went back to sleep.  By the
time Teich got up at 7, everything was covered in a thick sheet
of ice. If not for fallen lim