<div><p>An ice storm across the northeastern United States caused power outages for hundreds of thousands of people, forced a government shut-down in Maine and put Massachusetts and New Hampshire under a state of emergency.</p><p>"The whole northeast of the United States is suffering," said Jeff Tilghman at Northeast Utilities, a power company serving the region.</p><p>Maine closed all government offices in response to the storm, which combined rain and freezing spells.</p><p>In New Hampshire, Governor John Lynch declared a state of emergency, committing all resources to fighting storm damage.</p><p>Some 300,000 people across New Hampshire were without power as a result of the ice build-up that is continuing to cause tree limbs and branches to snap, taking down power lines and affecting utility equipment, the governor's office said.</p><p>"With rain expected to continue and temperatures expected to drop ... I urge all New Hampshire citizens to take sensible precautions and heed all warnings from public officials," Lynch said in a statement.</p><p>Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick also declared a state of emergency to mobilize the National Guard "and conduct other emergency business to assist local communities is their response to and recovery from ... this winter storm," his office said.</p><p>"There are 350,000 households without power right now in Massachusetts in the areas hardest hit by the storm," Patrick told a press conference.</p><p>New York state, which extends far north and west of the city of New York, also saw thousands of people left without power, the state emergency management office said.</p><p>"Mother Nature dealt New York State a crippling blow yesterday and overnight," said Governor David Paterson.</p><p>"Portions of Upstate New York endured a major winter storm ... leaving nearly 300,000 New Yorkers currently without power," he said adding that "the outages may last a few days."</p><p>The emergency agency's director, John Gibb, warned residents to keep away from potentially lethal fallen power lines. He also advised against using candles at houses deprived of power, because of the added fire hazard.</p><p>"If you must travel, use extreme caution. Intersections with dark traffic control signals are to be treated as an all-way stop," he warned.</p><p>Tilghman said that in Connecticut there had been 16,700 customers without power, but that this had now been reduced to 6,500.</p><p>The Boston Globe said nearly one million homes and businesses were without power throughout the New England region as a result of the storm that encrusted the region in an inch-thick (2.5 centimeters) sheet of ice.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=38692243&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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