Utility spokesmen said power outages might continue for some residents through the weekend as repair crews toiled to undo damages from a disruptive, two-day storm that sheathed at least 22 Kansas counties in ice.

Across the region, hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses lost power between Wednesday and Thursday because of winter storms. By late Thursday afternoon, 5,000 Douglas County households and businesses had gone hours without electricity, a Westar Energy spokeswoman said. The number had decreased to 3,500 by 9:15 p.m.

Westar Energy workers, from left, Scott Gilsdorf and Rick Irvin remove tree limbs in the alley in the 1300 block of Connecticut Street. Crews were out in force Thursday morning, repairing power lines downed by ice-covered limbs.

Falling tree limbs and downed power lines left more than 10,000 electrical customers in Lawrence, Baldwin and Ottawa without power.

In Lawrence, customers in eastern and southern parts of the city were particularly hard hit. But some neighborhoods west of Iowa Street also were without power.

“We have all our crews out there working,” said Cynthia McCarvel for Westar Energy, formerly KPL. “We’re anticipating they will probably be working through the weekend.”

McCarvel said the company called in help from Des Moines, Iowa, and Denver so that repair forces totaled 530 people across the state.

At the height of the storm, an estimated 88,000 Westar customers in Kansas lacked power. Also, at least 270,000 Kansas City-area customers of Kansas City Power & Light lost electricity.

By 6 a.m. Thursday in Ottawa, Scott Bird, interim co-city manager, said power had been restored throughout town except for isolated areas. He said city crews also repaired several water main breaks.

Baldwin City Administrator Larry Paine said about 30 houses out of 1,500 remained without power early Thursday evening after outages the night before. The city lost its main electrical feed from Gardner through KCPL about 6 p.m. Wednesday. He said city crews took a break Thursday night but would continue making repairs this morning.

“Our crew has worked straight since 5:30 a.m. Wednesday,” he said. “These guys have gone the extra mile, working in very adverse conditions.”

Paine said the remaining houses did not have service because of problems with the electrical feed to each house. He said temporary connections will be restored to those 30 houses, but the property owners will be responsible for rebuilding service panels within 60 days.

People without electricity were encouraged to seek emergency shelter in Lawrence at the Community Building, 115 W. 11th St., Baker University’s Collins Sports Center in Baldwin and at Ransom Memorial Hospital, First Methodist Church, the Wesleyan Church and City Hall in Ottawa.

Utility officials said electrical problems could last through the weekend. Adverse weather could continue, too. Though the freezing rain and sleet subsided Thursday, Paul Frantz, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, Topeka, said Lawrence-area motorists could experience problems with fog tonight.

“Any significant precipitation is over with, but what will be more of a problem will be fog. Mist combined with below-freezing temperatures is not good.”

Frantz said today the weather is expected to be partly sunny with highs in the lower 30s. Melted ice could freeze again tonight as temperatures fall back into the teens.

Emergency officials have responded to more than 200 calls since Wednesday.

Mark Bradford, deputy chief of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical, said people have reported downed power lines, fallen tree branches and power outages.

On the road, Douglas County motorists were either being extra careful on rural roads and highways or just staying home. Sheriff’s officers received no reports of traffic accidents from 6 p.m. Wednesday to about 6 p.m. Thursday, Lt. Kathy Tate said.

Officers have been busy, however, she said assisting motorists with stuck or stalled vehicles and have responded to several calls to check downed power lines and tree branches.

Tom Wilkerson of Lawrence Parks and Recreation said the department plans to help property owners remove tree limbs and branches next week. He said property owners should place limbs and branches curbside, and city crews will pick up and chip the material starting Tuesday or Wednesday.

Wilkerson said people also can bundle limbs to be picked up with their regular trash removals. The bundles must measure no more than five feet long and no more than eighteen inches in diameter and weigh no more than 65 pounds.