The ice crisis in the Capital Region of upstate New York has taken two lives, and power is not expected to fully return until Wednesday, local media reported Sunday.
Carbon monoxide poisoning claimed the lives of Ralph and Mary Fazio in Glenville, local newspaper Times Union reported on its website, citing town police.
A family member called police at 8 a.m. (1300 GMT) Saturday after finding Ralph Fazio Jr., 65, in the living room. He was pronounced dead after being taken to hospital. Mary Fazio, 61, was found dead in an upstairs bedroom.
Police were cited as saying a gas-powered generator in their attached garage produced a large amount of carbon monoxide that eventually filled the home.
The U.S. National Grid and local government agencies are slowly recovering from the devastating ice storm that began Thursday.
As of Saturday evening, more than 141,000 homes and businesses were still without power in the Capital Region.
Officials were urging homeowners to take safety precautions and not use appliances such as generators indoors. They also asked residents to check on their friends.
"By Wednesday, we hope to have the entire storm cleaned up," said Susan Crossett, a senior vice president at National Grid.
The ice invasion at one point left more than 240,000 Capital Region homes and businesses without power. It included not only National Grid customers, but those of New York State Electric and Gas and Central Hudson.
The Capital Region is an imprecise regional definition that generally refers to the four counties surrounding Albany, the capital of New York State. Upstate New York is the region of New York State north of the core of the New York metropolitan area. It has a population of 7,121,911 out of the state's total 18,976,457.