Quebec Battles Ice Storm, Blackout

Quebeckers reeling from a devastating ice storm were hit with more freezing rain as repair crews struggled to restore power to more than 400,000 homes. Authorities said it could take four days or more to restore power to all the affected homes. Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard pledged financial aid for hard-hit communities. The storm hit Montreal the hardest, knocking down power lines and trees, closing schools and businesses and turning roads into treacherously slippery surfaces. It was blamed for three deaths, two of them in Ontario.