Ice storm led to various issues

Thirty years ago this week, the community was dealing with the effects of an ice storm.

The Feb. 12, 1993, edition of The Commercial Review featured coverage of the storm that resulted in schools being closed and Portland residents advised to boil drinking water for the second time in less than 10 days.

An ice storm the previous day resulted in electricity being out for 530 customers, including all of Bryant and Jay School Corporation canceling classes.

Portland water department superintendent Doug Jackson called for the boil order after a 12-inch water main break left some residents with no water or extremely low pressure. The break was in the south 100 block of Wayne Street, about a half block away from a break that had occurred the previous week at the intersection of Wayne and Main streets.

The main had a crack about 8 feet long and was replaced with a new 20-foot section of pipe.

The situation with the water lines caused a run on bottled water at local stores — assistant manager Andy Holloway of Marsh supermarket said it sold about 110 gallons of water on the morning of the break — and forced some high-capacity users to find other sources.

“We had one guy come in this morning and (he) bought 30 gallons right off the bat,” Holloway added.

A Portland Fire Department truck hauled a load of water to JCI Inc., said human resources manager Cline Bryan. He added that disruptions in the water supply had a “terrible” impact on the factory that had about 500 employees.

“This is not a subject that we are pleased about in Portland,” he said. “We have too many people and too many obligations to our customers to shut down (the factory).”

Jay County hospital brought in about 100 gallons of drinking water.