It still could be days before power is fully restored in areas devastated by last week's ice storm, as recovery crews continue struggling with blocked roads, snapping tree limbs and downed cables.

Handfuls of homes and businesses had power back Monday in the hardest-hit areas, like the Hilltowns and Shutesbury, while almost 2,000 others confronted a fifth day without electricity. But even those who have had power restored aren't out of the woods yet, according to Western Massachusetts Electric Co.

"Another challenge we're running into is, it's warming up," WMECO spokeswoman Lacey Girard said Monday afternoon. "It helps our line crews because they're not as cold. But as the ice melts, if there's trees entangled in wires, there's a snap-back factor."

Meanwhile, snow and more freezing rain is forecast in the days ahead, according to the National Weather Service. That will likely mean extra hassle for plow drivers, who will have to contend not only with precipitation but also branches and electrical wires still choking some rural streets.

The storm caused some disruption at the Hilltown Community Health Centers in Worthington and Huntington, said executive director Ed Sayer. Both centers were closed Friday due to dangerous road conditions, but are now open.

"It's pretty much a normal operation today," Sayer said Monday.

The Huntington office was open, with intermittent power, over the weekend, Sayer said. The Worthington office reopened Monday under generator power.

Some staff had difficulty getting into work due to blocked driveways and roads, Sayer said. Also, the offices have been unable to reach some patients who missed appointments because of the storm. Sayer said this was likely because of the power outages and some people's decision to relocate to shelters or with friends and family outside the area.

A slow restoration

WMECO says it is responding with every available employee, plus crews from other states including New York, Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland. The extraordinary effort includes aerial inspection of power lines along routes that remain impassable and using bulldozers to get line crews into inaccessible areas.

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency and the National Guard are assisting opening roads.

Girard said about 100 electrical crews and 115 tree crews were out Monday, as they had been through the weekend, clearing branches away from wires.

National Grid crews are also at work in Shutesbury and Goshen, and other parts of the state the company serves. Across the state, more than 100,000 people remained in the dark, and 2,200 residents spent the night at 62 emergency shelters.

Spokesman David Graves said Monday he had no estimate when National Grid's Hampshire and Franklin counties towns would have power restored.

"It's a laborious process," Graves said. "The working conditions have improved but the danger is still there."

According to WMECO's Web site, as of 9 p.m. Monday, 438 customers in Worthington were still without power. Electricity had been restored to nearly 45 percent of customers in Plainfield, one of the towns worst hit by Thursday night's storm.

Chesterfield was still reporting about 70 percent of the company's customers in the dark, and about half of those living in Cummington were without power. Outages were reported as less than 10 percent in Huntington, Westhampton, Leverett and Pelham.

At the same time, National Grid reported that 331 customers in Shutesbury, and four in Goshen, were still without power.

Across western Massachusetts, according to WMECO, about 10,000 customers have their power back, though another 9,000 remained without electricity Monday night.

WMECO sent an automated telephone message Sunday night to customers, advising them of restoration progress and providing safety warnings.

Customers without power who have not already done so are asked to call WMECO at (800) 286-2000.

Lousy forecast

More trouble could be on the way. The National Weather Service predicted rain and freezing temperatures late Monday night and snow flurries with little or no accumulation this morning.

Tonight, the service predicts a 50-percent chance of snow after 11 p.m., then snow and sleet Wednesday. A quarter to a half-inch of accumulation is expected. More precipitation is expected Thursday and Friday, including periods of freezing rain.

Adam Hurtubise, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Highway Department, said road crews have been clearing state roads and assisting municipalities with clearing local streets on request.

The clearing work will continue in the days ahead, Hurtubise said, and crews will also treat roads with calcium chloride and plow during any storms.

James F. Lowe can be reached at jlowe@gazettenet.com. Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com