Subject: iced categories

From: categories <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 15:09:04 -0400 (AST)

Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 09:56:26 -0500 (EST)
From: Peter Freyd <[email-masked]>

Since a good fraction of the world's category theorists are witnessing
an historic ice-storm, can they tell us how they're faring?

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From: categories <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 14:38:01 -0400 (AST)

Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 09:39:46 -0500
From: P. Scott <[email-masked]>

Dear Colleagues:
   Peter asked how things are going, so I thought I would
mention what I know.  As you all know, eastern Ontario and
Quebec were hit by a massive ice storm:  Montreal island was
particularly badly hit. Downtown Montreal is apparently in
very bad shape, with large areas still without power. The
island was cut-off physically (all the bridges were down)
for several days, and many downtown hotels are now without
power. Many streets still have downed power-lines, and it is
unsafe in some cases to walk near trees, buildings, or powerlines because of
falling ice. Triples (and McGill) is down, so there is no 
e-mail contact for now.  In terms of individuals, I have spoken to many
of the categorists and everyone is ok although several people 
(Barr, Prakash,...) are without heat and power
in their homes. They are either staying with friends or rigged-up
some kind of power line from neighbours with electricity at least to run a 
heater. But basically Montreal and nearby communities are a disaster area.
the entire South Shore off Montreal has lost its power grid (i.e. transmission
towers twisted like pretzels because of ice); the same happened in parts of 
Eastern Ontario as far as Kingston, with disastrous effects on dairy farmers, 
etc.
   Here in Ottawa, the situation was bad, although not quite as disastrous
as Montreal.  Forty percent of the trees in Ottawa are damaged, and parts of
Ottawa are still without power (for example, my house since Thursday!). But
downtown is getting back in shape, and Carleton and University of Ottawa
have managed to keep heat. I am still camping-out here in my office for the
near future...    
   
			Keep warm--

			Phil Scott

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From: categories <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 14:38:51 -0400 (AST)

Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 16:05:33 +0000 (GMT)
From: J.M. Egger <[email-masked]>

> an historic ice-storm, can they tell us how they're faring?

Probably not... `triples.math.mcgill.ca' has been inoperative since before 
the ice-storm began, which means that many category-theorists in Montreal 
have not been receiving e-mail from this mailing list even before the 

[ note from moderator: actually, the list has been reaching the McGill 
people - until last week of course... ]

blackouts, etc. began.  I think power has been restored to most of the island 
of Montreal (the downtown area lost power at 3pm on Friday, and was still 
without it when I left on Saturday evening), but the electrical infrastructure 
of the South Shore has been destroyed to the point that it must be replaced 
from scratch.  Now that temperatures have dropped to the more usual range for 
this time of year, mass evacuation of the hardest-hit areas by the army is a 
distinct possibility.