US homes still hit by storm's after-effects

More than 100,000 homes and businesses were still without power across two US states and parts of Canada today as the impact of a winter storm lingered more than a week after it brought chaos to the area.

Oklahoma was hardest hit with more than 91,000 homes and businesses without power. Some people had spent all their money stocking up on food before the storm, only to see it spoil when the electricity failed.

“We’ve had people using generators who ran out of money for fuel to operate the generators,” said a spokesman for the American Red Cross.

The storm contributed to at least 27 deaths: 16 in traffic accidents, eight in fires, two from carbon monoxide fumes and one from hypothermia, officials said.

Overnight temperatures over the past week have dropped as low as minus 10C.

In Kansas, where six deaths were blamed on last week’s storm, about 24,000 customers remained without power, and some rural areas might not have electricity restored for a week or more because another storm is expected this week.

“We all hope for everybody to be back on by Christmas. I’m not sure that’s a realistic goal,” said a power company spokesman.

While the Plains states struggled to put power back on, a large area of the country from the Great Lakes to New England dug out from a weekend storm that dumped 18 inches of snow in some places.

In Canada, the storm hammered the Maritime provinces, including Newfoundland and Labrador, after holding some central and eastern provinces in its grip over the weekend.