Many still in dark three days after ice storm

BOSTON -- More than 100,000 Massachusetts residents remained in the dark Monday as utility crews worked around the clock to restore electricity three days after a devastating ice storm in New England.

About 2,200 residents without heat or electricity spent the night at 62 emergency shelters around Massachusetts and many public schools were closed as local emergency declarations remained in effect in dozens of communities.

"Half of our city looks like a hurricane came through," said Michael O'Brien, the city manager in Worcester -- the state's second largest city. "Our main priority is to get our city back up and safe."

Peter Judge, spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, said roughly 122,000 electric customers had no without power, down from a peak of 350,000 in the immediate aftermath of the storm Friday. The number fluctuated Monday because as temperatures warm some trees snap up and cut power lines.

The potential for high winds and rain over the next 24 to 36 hours is likely to affect efforts to restore power and may also create additional outages in Massachusetts, National Grid said in a statement.

Utilities called in crews from around the country to help in the recovery, but it could be several days before power is restored completely, authorities said.

Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray, the former mayor of Worcester, stayed with his parents and a brother over the weekend after losing power at his own home.

"There's a lot of people in worse situations," Murray told reporters during a news conference. He made a point to praise the work of public works and other emergency workers, many of whom worked without sleep to clear roads and restore power.

"We've seen, really, some heroic and Herculean efforts on behalf of state and municipal employees," Murray said.

In Worcester, the storm complicated plans to eradicate trees infested with Asian longhorned beetles. O'Brien said workers were scheduled to remove infested trees this week but now are focused on getting debris off the streets.

O'Brien said efforts to remove the rest of the infested trees would resume after the city has been cleaned. The beetle outbreak has not stalled any clean up efforts, he added.

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 ice storm appeared to have claimed one life. Kevin Connolly, a 50-year-old Marlborough public works supervisor, went missing while responding to downed tree limbs. His body was recovered Saturday in the Sudbury Reservoir.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)