1M without power in Northeast

December 14, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Falling temperatures were expected to send more people to shelters in the ice-coated Northeast on Saturday as an army of utility crews made only limited progress restoring power to more than 1 million homes and businesses.

“If you don’t have power, assume that you will not get it restored today, and right now make arrangements to stay someplace warm tonight,” Gov. John Lynch of hardest-hit New Hampshire warned.

Utilities in his state said it likely will be Thursday or Friday — a week after the storm — before all power is restored in the region, partly because of the sheer number of outages and partly because of the devastation.

Crews across the region saw electric poles, wires and equipment destroyed. The extent of damage was unclear because some roads still were impassable.

In New York, all but five roads managed by state highway officials had been cleared Saturday.

About 1.3 million homes and businesses from Pennsylvania to Maine were plunged into the dark — and cold — by a storm that coated trees and wires with ice Thursday night into Friday. Most of the outages were in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine and New York. About 880,000 remained without power Saturday afternoon.

Four states declared either limited or full states of emergency.

At least three deaths, all caused by carbon monoxide poisoning, appear to be related to the storm. A Danville, N.H., man who lived in a camper died of carbon monoxide poisoning from the generator he was using after his power went out Thursday night. Two people in Glenville, N.Y., also died of carbon monoxide poisoning.