Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Power is coming back for some, but nearly 1.8 million homes and businesses across the Northeast are still without electricity.

This weekend's early snowstorm snapped branches and tore down power lines across the region, prompting many communities to ask
parents to postpone or cancel Halloween plans. The small town of
Peru, Mass., in the Berkshire Mountains received 32 inches of snow.

Authorities are blaming at least 23 deaths on the storm, including one in Canada. Most were the result of falling trees, traffic accidents or electrocutions from downed wires.

Power companies say the situation has been particularly challenging for crews because of the large number of individual outages.

The snow hit many communities still recovering from flooding caused by Hurricane Irene two months ago. Some New Jersey residents say they were only able to return to their homes and restock their refrigerators in the past two weeks. Now they say the food is rotting without power.