Pacific Northwest residents told to stay indoors as ice coats region

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Schools and government offices were shut as people faced difficulties travelling along snow-coated roads...

An ice storm threatened to topple towering trees onto power lines and turned mountain highways treacherous Wednesday in the Pacific Northwest, where residents were urged to avoid travel...

The Tennessee Valley Authority, which provides electricity to seven Southern states, reported a preliminary all-time record for peak power demand Wednesday morning as the region dropped to an average of 4 degrees (minus 15.5 Celsius), leading to a brief call, later lifted, for customers to cut back on usage...

The Pacific Northwest is more known for rain and was not set to experience such arctic temperatures, but the heavily forested region is especially prone to the danger of falling trees and power lines, particularly during freezing rain, or ice, storms...

Officials called for volunteers, citing the high demand in an area where thousands of people live outside.. The real limitation for us right now is staffing, said Dan Field, director of the county-city homelessness office..

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