The majority of the power outages are reported in the northern Illinois counties. At the height of the storm as many as 375,000 customers were plunged into darkness by downed power lines and damaged power distribution systems. Commonwealth Edison estimates that as many as 25 percent of the power outages will continue through Wednesday night. The latest report from the power company is that there are 600 crews working on power restoration. More workers are deploying from as far away as Houston, Texas.
Work is slowed by heavy ice accumulation on the wires.
Schools in the storm area were closed for classes, but opened as warming centers for area residents. The ARC is operating eight shelters and supporting 22 others. Nearly 1,150 people have sought shelter in those facilities. Residents in many Nebraska counties are digging out from under more than a foot of snow, which among other things, closed nearly 250 miles of Interstate 80 across the state. The governor declared a statewide state of emergency on March 9.