Patience Urged in Areas Hit by Storm

Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who was among the thousands in the state whose homes lost power after a Christmas Day ice storm, urged residents to be patient as the lights slowly came back on. Huckabee told state lawmakers in a conference call that he believed the storm was the worst in state history. About 46,000 Arkansas homes and businesses remained without electricity. At its peak, the storm knocked out power to about 315,000 Arkansas customers. Oklahoma still had about 58,000 homes and businesses blacked out. In northeastern Texas, it was about 4,500--down from more than 23,000. More snow fell in the region, with northern Louisiana getting 4 inches, that area’s deepest accumulation in 15 years.