FREDERICTON, New Brunswick – Thousands of New Brunswickers face the grim prospect of at least two more days without power in frigid temperatures as the Maritime province struggles to recover from Sunday’s ice and freezing rain storms.

The temperature was forecast to sink to a bone-chilling minus 4 on Thursday, the fifth day of a major power outage caused by a powerful ice storm that hit the province on Groundhog Day.

Repair crews suffered a setback on Wednesday after freezing rain caused more outages, especially in southeastern New Brunswick, and new problems cropped up further north in the Miramichi area.

As of Wednesday afternoon, there were 21,000 people without power, including 6,000 in Miramichi who lost power due to a breaker problem at a local terminal.

“It’s difficult to make progress against these weather conditions,” said Jeffrey Carleton, spokesman for NB Power, the provincial electrical utility.