FREDERICTON, New Brunswick – A fierce, freezing rainstorm that battered New Brunswick on Groundhog Day, leaving over 60,000 homes in the cold and dark, was worse than the infamous ice storm of 1998, NB Power officials said Monday.

Flights were grounded, people were advised to stay off the roads and even groundhogs stayed deep in their dens while a mixture of freezing rain, ice pellets and heavy snow pounded the Maritime province on Sunday and Monday.

“There’s no question this is worse than the ’98 ice storm,” said Jeffrey Carleton, spokesman for NB Power, the provincial electrical utility.

“In 1998, we had about 28,000 customers out. This time, at the peak of the outages on Monday, we have 63,000 without power.”

Large trees bent and snapped like twigs as a result of the heavy coating of ice that affected communities across the province, but particularly in the southeast.

The drooping and falling branches caused most of the power outages, although some power poles and wires also broke under the weight of ice.

Some people in the Moncton area braced for as many as two more days without power.

The Red Cross scrambled on Monday to set up a drop-in center for people who need a warm place and hot food.