DURHAM, N.C. ? In a region left dark and cold by a major ice storm, National Guard volunteers went door to door Sunday to show residents how to safely heat their homes after two people died of carbon monoxide poisoning while trying to keep warm.

More than 200 people have sought medical help for carbon monoxide poisoning since the ice storm downed trees and power lines Thursday.

The guardsmen also reminded residents that emergency shelters were open and offered kind words of hope.

Annie Mae Allen, 81, has a working gas heater in the childhood home she shares with her 75-year-old brother but was concerned about the food in her freezer. “I just don’t want to lose this good food,” she said, asking the volunteers when they would turn on her lights.

“Ma’am, if we could turn on your power we would,” said Sgt. Ted Goodnight.

Utility work crews had made progress in getting power restored to darkened homes.

Duke Power, which had 1.3 million customers in the Carolinas without electricity after the ice storm Thursday, had restored power to more than half of them Sunday. There were 31,600 power outages in Durham Sunday night, down from 108,900 just after the storm. However, Duke said it would take it until midnight Wednesday before most of its customers had service restored.

Carolina Power & Light, which serves most of the state east of Durham, was trying to return power to about 116,000 customers.

Gov. Mike Easley on Sunday joined National Guardsmen knocking on doors in Wendell, a small town east of Raleigh. He said soldiers had gone to more than 10,000 homes.

“The guard has found such things as charcoal being used (indoors) and has tried to stop that and has found generators in homes,” Easley said. He said he plans to ask President Bush to declare North Carolina a federal disaster area.

A 31-year-old man died and at least seven people in the same Durham apartment were hospitalized Saturday. They were burning charcoal on a grill indoors to keep warm.

In Shelby, a man died and his wife was hospitalized after they ran a generator on an enclosed porch.

Thirty deaths, mostly traffic-related, have been blamed on the storm and its aftermath.