Boston Area News

WORCESTER (WBZ) ― Days after one of the worst ice storms on New England record, hundreds of thousands of customers across Massachusetts and New Hampshire were without power.

Emergency management agencies report this is worst storm of its kind in 50 years.

As of 10:00 p.m. Sunday, an estimated 163,000 customers in New Hampshire and 98,000 in Massachusetts were without power. By Sunday afternoon, more than 1,800 Massachusetts residents had evacuated their homes and were staying at shelters. Many shelters are expected to be open for one week.

Overnight crews were able to restore power to some some 30,000 customers.

An estimated 5,000 National Grid workers remain fanned out across New England and New York, scrambling to restore utilities.  Company officials estimated most Massachusetts customers should have power by Monday night.

Public Service Company said it likely will be Thursday or Friday -- a week after the storm -- before all power is restored in New Hampshire.

National Grid: Outages By County | Report Outage
PSNH: Power Updates | Report Outage
Resource: Winter Power Outage Safety

States of Emergency remained in effect in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS STILL WITHOUT POWER

As the temperatures dipped overnight, the number of residents fleeing to shelters nearly doubled to 1,800.

Peter Judge of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency said that access to downed power lines and poles remains the biggest obstacle for workers.

While the major roads are cleared, many secondary roads in rural areas remain blocked by fallen trees and tree limbs.

The state and local communities will be receiving some financial help for the cleanup. President Bush has signed a federal emergency disaster declaration for the effected counties.

Public Service Company spokesman Martin Murray said the company will have to rebuild the entire infrastructure of some sections of the electrical delivery system, but progress is being made. 

Friday morning's storm left a sheen of ice on trees, felling them throughout Central Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. Those trees have in turn blocked roads, making it difficult for power crews to quickly make the necessary repairs.

"That debris has got to be removed, just to allow those crews to get in there to be able to take care of restoring power, " Judge said. "There's still an awful lot of debris out there, and it's going to take a lot of work to remove it."

At the height of power outages, 350,000 customers had been without power in Massachusetts. In New Hampshire, the number without power had soared as high as 430,000, the worst number in the state's history.

"We're moving the ball a little bit. In that regard, there's hope, and hopefully, Mother Nature will help us out, stay out of the way, and let us do our work," Judge said.

COLD TEMPERATURES DELAY THAW

Sunny skies and temperatures creeping up into the 30s Sunday offered some relief from the frigid cold to some areas of Massachusetts.

Monday should bring more thawing as the mercury may rise into the mid to upper 50s, even low 60s in spots on Monday despite considerable cloudiness.

Temperatures in the region were in the lower 20s on Saturday, meaning more trees and power lines were at risk of succumbing to the weight of ice.  It also meant slick roadways could continue to be a concern for drivers. State Police say black ice was to blame for a sports utility vehicle veering off of Nonantum Road in Watertown, careening into a tree and then into the Charles River. The female driver was taken to an area hospital.

Officials were also worried that people without power could resort to unsafe methods to heat their homes. A 49-year-old man in New Hampshire died of carbon monoxide poisoning when he apparently tried to heat his home using a portable generator inside his powerless home.

In an effort to help people who have been left in the cold, shelters have been opened up throughout the state. The Red Cross says 21 shelters have been set up throughout the area to help people forced out of their homes. They were bracing for as many as one hundred people to check into a shelter set up at Shrewsbury High School.

NATIONAL GUARD CALLED IN TO HELP

Hundreds of national guardsmen have been placed on standby to help with the recovery efforts; they have not yet been deployed by Governor Deval Patrick.

The Boston Globe estimates the total of the state's response to cleanup at roughly $7 million.

Gov. Patrick and New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch have both signaled that they will request federal emergency aid to help pay for the response.

(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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