WORLD> America
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WORLD> America
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Crews fight cold, ice to return power to US Northeast
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-14 17:16 Utility officials said they anticipated more outages during the weekend as drooping trees and branches shed ice and snap back into their original positions, potentially taking out more power lines.
As line crews worked in hand-numbing cold, residents bundled up and hunkered down around fireplaces, stayed with friends or relatives, stood in line at stores for generators or went to shelters. "I still don't have power. I can't shower, I can't cook, I can't do much of anything," Debbie Reed, 57, of Rochester, N.H., said Saturday. She went to the Rochester Middle School shelter Friday afternoon when she started seeing her breath in her apartment. "My plan is to go home and see how long I can stand it. If the power isn't back on by tonight, I'll come back here," she said. "It's so cold I can only stand it for so long." In Ridge, N.H., recreation department director Peggi Brogan said turnout at a shelter was sporadic Saturday with people coming in to get food and warmth and then going back to brave their homes. "We don't know what to expect," she said. "I think a lot of people are afraid to leave their homes because they are afraid their pipes will freeze. But, it's hard to say what's going to happen over the next few days." Amy Raymond, 74, a retired town employee from Rindge, planned to spend the night at the shelter. "I have an apartment, but there's no heat, no lights, no water. I spent last night there, but after going through that, I decided not to do it again," she said. Retired auctioneer Ed Stevens, 88, also came to the shelter. "I guess if it's between here and freezing to death in my own house, I'll take here," he said.
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