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.

Temperatures early yesterday were largely from -10 to -1 C, with temperatures from -17 to -13 C readings in much of Maine. The low at Concord, New Hampshire, was just -13 C, the National Weather Service said.

Volunteers serving at shelters saw some new faces as residents decided not to try to endure a third night without electricity or heat.

"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," said Amy Raymond, 74, at a shelter in the town of Rindge, New Hampshire.

Crews across the region saw electric poles, wires and equipment destroyed. The extent of damage was unclear because some roads still were impassable.

"We'd put one line up, and it seemed like another would break," said Stan Tucker, operations supervisor in Springfield for Central Vermont Public Service Corp. "It seems like every line has multiple problems."

Despite the difficulties, progress was being made. As of Sunday morning, Public Service Company of New Hampshire said about 194,000 of its customers still had no electricity, down from 313,000 Saturday.

In New York, all but five roads managed by state highway officials had been cleared Saturday.

New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York and Maine declared either limited or full states of emergency.

Utility crews flocked to the region from as far away as Michigan, Virginia and Canada.

At least three deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning appeared to be related to the storm as people fired up generators, and the body of a Massachusetts public works supervisor was recovered from a reservoir Saturday afternoon, a day after he went missing while responding to tree limbs down.

Retired auctioneer Ed Stevens, 88, came to the Rindge shelter Saturday after rejecting several suggestions that he do so earlier. "I told them, 'No way!' I guess I'm too damned independent," he said.