More than 100,000 people remain without power Thursday, days after an ice storm hit the upper Midwest and swept through western Maine. With power companies struggling through harsh winter conditions, service might not be fully restored until the weekend. In the meantime, some customers are taking refuge in hotels and emergency shelters to remain warm.
Christmas Day temperatures fell to minus-24 degrees F in upperMichigan, according to the National Weather Service, with ice covering power lines and tree branches.
The state’s largest utility, Consumers Energy, reported Thursday that 89,250 customers are without power, which represents nearly 20 percent of the company’s entire consumer base.
During the storm’s peak early Monday, more than 500,000 customers from the Midwest to Maine were without power .... http://www.rawstory.com
