Power still out for millions after 'historic storm'

HARTFORD, Conn.?? Thousands of schoolchildren around the Northeast had one of the earliest snow days in memory Monday after a storm dumped as much as 30 inches of wet, heavy snow that snapped trees and power lines, caused widespread power failures and threatened to disrupt Halloween trick-or-treating.

Communities from Maryland to Maine that suffered through a tough winter last year followed by a series of floods and storms went into now-familiar emergency mode as shelters opened, inaccessible roads closed, regional transit was suspended or delayed, and local leaders urged caution.

The storm's lingering effects likely will outlast the snow. Temperatures rose on Monday which will help melt the heavy, wet snow.

The unseasonably early nor'easter had utility companies struggling to restore electricity to more than 3 million homes and businesses. By early Monday, the number of customers without power had dipped to around 2 million and continued falling. But officials in some states warned it could be days or even a week before residents have power again, even though crews have been brought in from as far away as Michigan and Canada.

"What a storm, my power is still out!" said a Monday morning Twitter post from Mass. Sen. Scott Brown about his Wrentham, Mass., home.

"We are in full restoration mode," said Marcy Reed, president of National Grid Massachusetts.

Trees, branches and power lines still littered roads and rail lines throughout the region, leading to a tough Monday morning commute for many. The ice was responsible for several accidents in the Philadelphia area on Monday morning, according to Philly.com.

In New Jersey, suspensions remained in effect on several New Jersey Transit train lines into New York City, while in Connecticut, 100 state roads were closed and about 200 more partially closed, Conn. Gov. Dannel Malloy said.

'No gas anywhere'
In Hartford, Conn., commuters hunted for open gas stations. At a 7-Eleven, two dozen cars waited early Monday in a line that stretched into the street and disrupted traffic.

"I'm sitting here thinking I'm going to run out of gas," said Mitchell Celella, 45, of Canaan, Conn., who was trying to make it to his job as an ice cream maker in West Hartford.

Debra Palmisano said everything was closed in her hometown of Plainville; she spent most of the morning looking for gas around the capital city.

"There's no gas anywhere. It's like we're in a war zone. It's pretty scary, actually," she said.

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Some local officials canceled or postponed Halloween activities, fearful that young trick-or-treaters could wander into areas with downed power lines or trees ready to topple over. Many towns around the state have moved the festivities to later in week, Boston.com reported.

"This is an historic storm," said Malloy told The Hartford Courant. "This is the largest number of power outages we have ever experienced."

More than 800,000 lost power in Connecticut and by early Monday, 750,000 people still had no power.

Malloy himself has power at the governor's mansion but he said that Attorney General George Jepsen, who lives across the street, does not, the Courant reported.

A weekend that should have brought activity no more strenuous than raking colorful autumn leaves left Northeasterners weather-weary.

Video: Northeast recovering from freak snowstorm (on this page)

"You had this storm, you had Hurricane Irene, you had the flooding last spring and you had the nasty storms last winter," Tom Jacobsen said Sunday while getting coffee at a convenience store in Hamilton Township, N.J. "I'm starting to think we really ticked off Mother Nature somehow because we've been getting spanked by her for about a year now."

No 'quick fix'
The storm smashed record snowfall totals for October and worsened as it moved north. Communities in western Massachusetts were among the hardest hit. Snowfall totals topped 27 inches in Plainfield, and nearby Windsor got 26 inches. The snowstorm was blamed for at least 12 deaths, and states of emergency were declared in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and parts of New York.

"Look at this, look at all the damage," said Jennifer Burckson, 49, after she came outside Sunday morning in South Windsor to find a massive tree branch had smashed her car's back windshield. Trees in the neighborhood snapped in half, with others weighed down so much that the leaves brushed the snow.

Compounding the storm's impact were still-leafy trees, which gave the snow something to hang onto and that put tremendous weight on branches, said National Weather Service spokesman Chris Vaccaro. That led to limbs breaking off and contributed to the widespread power failures.

New York's Central Park could lose 1,000 trees as a result of the snowstorm, the group that manages the park said Monday.

This power failure will be worse than the one caused by Hurricane Irene in August, said Peter Bloom, 70, of South Windsor, because he relies on electricity to heat his home.

Video: Record snowstorm blankets Northeast (on this page)

"I'm going to put another blanket on. What else can I do?" he said Sunday as he gassed up a snow blower to clear his driveway. "At least I'll save a few bucks on my electric bill."

The severity of the storm caught many by surprise, and it disrupted Halloween plans, too.

Sharon Martovich of Southbury, Conn., who was grocery shopping Sunday morning in nearby Newtown at one of the few businesses open for miles, said she's hoping the power will come back on in time for her husband's Halloween tradition of playing "Young Frankenstein" on a giant screen in front of their house.

She was already making the best of the power failure. After the lights went out around 4 p.m. Saturday, she invited neighbors over for an impromptu Halloween party with wine and quesadillas in front of her propane fireplace.

No power
Around Newtown, snow-laden branches were snapping off trees every few minutes, and roads that were plowed became impassible because the trees were falling so fast.

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Along the coast and in such cities as Boston, relatively warm water helped keep snowfall totals much lower. Washington received a trace of snow, tying a 1925 record for the date. New York City's Central Park set a record for both the date and for October with 1.3 inches.

But in New Hampshire's capital of Concord, more than 22 inches fell, weeks ahead of the usual first measurable snowfall. West Milford, N.J., about 45 miles northwest of New York City, had 19 inches by early Sunday.

In Maine, about 35,800 remained without power on Sunday night, according to the Portland Press Herald.

New Jersey's largest electric and gas utility, PSE&G, warned customers to prepare for "potentially lengthy outages" and advised power might not be fully restored until Wednesday. About 400,000 people in New Jersey were still in the dark early Monday, down from more than 612,000.

Massachusetts had half a million without power, Pennsylvania more than 200,000 and New York around 270,000.

Rail service was getting back up to speed across the region, though delays were expected. Amtrak had suspended service on several routes, and one train from Chicago to Boston got stuck overnight in Palmer, Mass. The 48 passengers had food and heat, a spokeswoman said, and were taken by bus Sunday to their destinations.

Deaths blamed on the storm included an 84-year-old Pennsylvania man killed by a tree that fell on his home, a person who died in a traffic accident in Colchester, Conn., and a 20-year-old man who was electrocuted in Springfield, Mass.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45100861/ns/weather/

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