Feb. 6—FROSTBURG — Power restoration crews worked Thursday to turn the lights back on for thousands of area residents left in the dark by an overnight ice storm.

The storm downed trees and power lines around the area, mostly in the region's highest elevations. A half-inch of ice accumulated at Grantsville, according to the National Weather Service, while about three-tenths of an inch coated Frostburg, where outages were most significant.

Late Thursday morning, First Energy's online outage tracker listed 58% of the city without power, about 4,000 customers. That number dropped to a few hundred by late Thursday afternoon, and a spokesperson said the company hoped to have service to all customers restored later in the day.

Fire crews responded to reports of downed trees and lines around the city, including at Hospital Road at Bealls Lane Extended and Alley 45.

The storm closed Allegany County Public Schools and Frostburg State University, which planned to open at 11 a.m. before an outage hit campus mid-morning, university officials said in a statement. Other school systems delayed openings Thursday until temperatures warmed.

In nearby West Virginia, the storm prompted flood warnings for Hardy, Grant and Pendleton counties, among others. Streams and rivers were out of their banks and multiple roads were closed due to flooding after 1.5 to 3 inches of rain fell, the weather service said.

The South Branch Potomac River at Petersburg was expected to rise to 14.2 feet Thursday night, just above its 14 feet flood stage.