Parts of US in darkness 3 days after storm

Utility officials trying to recover from a devastating ice storm in the US northeast warned there could be more outages as droping trees and branches shed ice and snap back into their original positions, potentially taking out more power lines.

Roughly 800,000 customers were still without power in upstate New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine late on Saturday. Utility officials in hardest-hit New Hampshire said power might not be restored to the region until Thursday or Friday, a week after the storm knocked down utility lines, poles and equipment, leaving 1.4 million in the dark.

US President George W. Bush declared a state of emergency in New Hampshire and in nine of Massachusetts' 14 counties late Saturday, directing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide relief assistance.