Some normalcy returned to Auburn on Tuesday, Dec. 16, as school began after the devastating ice storm five days earlier, but power still remained out throughout much of town.

As of press time, officials said they still weren’t sure how many homes in town had electricity. By Sunday night, power had come back to a portion of town near Route 101’s Exit 2, but much of the town was still in darkness.

Deputy Fire Chief Dennis McCarthy said on Monday, Dec. 15, that large sections of Auburn remained without power, including Pingree Hill, Wilson’s Crossing, Bunker Hill Road and elevated portions of Dearborn Road. Areas of Chester Road had power, and he said there is no surefire way to tell when the town will be fully restored.

On Tuesday morning, Dec. 16, utility company officials told members of the media that it could still be a week or more before homes in isolated parts of the state have electricity.

During the weekend, Lt. Linda Wilking said the area atop Pingree Hill had some of the worst damage in town, and one home on Finch Lane was seriously damaged by a falling tree. While storm-related damage was reported to be most significant in the Pingree Hill area, Fire Chief Bruce Phillips said that damage elsewhere seemed to occur randomly.

“There is some pretty significant damage in town, it’s spread all over, but mostly in the southern area of town,” he said.

He said at least two houses on Pingree Hill and one on Dearborn Road were damaged, and a fallen wire caused a small fire on a Bunker Hill Road home, causing minor damage. As of Dec. 16, officials had not reported any serious accidents or injuries due to the storm.

Business owners said they’re still in the process of trying to gauge their losses due to the lack of power, but for some the damage seems minimal. In the Myles Travel Plaza, Zacky’s Pizzeria owner Dave Elliot said he returned to try to salvage his pizza and sandwich ingredients on Saturday, and his losses were few despite the lengthy loss of power.

“The cooler and the walkin freezer were both down, so we had to get everything out of here,” he said. “We didn’t lose anything except a little bit of lettuce.“

Phillips praised his firefighters on Dec. 15 for their excellent performance during the crisis, which had some people estimating that it was a worse situation than the ice storm of 10 years ago. In some cases, he said firefighters worked 48 hours straight with only a few hours sleep.

But he added that the storm could prove to be a devastating and costly one for the town. At the time the storm occurred, the town was in its final weeks of the 2008 budget.

“And it really couldn’t have happened at a worse time,” he said. “It’s really going to kill our budget, especially the fuel and vehicle costs. I don’t even want to think about what it’s cost us, but really, it’s been a big cost for all of New Hampshire.”