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It goes like this -- comment from reader at Strib.
The pipes freeze and crack. The water doesn't start to run until the pipe thaws, maybe days or weeks. Water could have been running down the basement floor drains for days until they froze and then it starts to pour out the doors and windows. At -8 the ice on the outside of the house could have developed over a matter of hours or overnight. It could have been as simple as the failure a $5 component in the furnace. I'd say the neighbors did their best. Last winter I saw 18' icicles hanging in the entryway in a townhouse in Plymouth. Water had been running for WEEKS down the floor drains. Nothing on the outside of the house.
