LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — As a the muted ends of a powerful winter storm that has killed more than a dozen people plodded through the Northeast, many in Arkansas were seeking warmth and shelter against the cold prospect of life without electricity into the new year.

A Christmas Day blizzard dumped more than 15 inches of snow on the state, causing widespread damage to power lines and cutting electricity to more than 200,000 customers.

With the bleak word from the state's largest utility that the lights could be out until after the start of the new year, many residents who awoke snowbound on Wednesday were jamming the city's hotel rooms by Thursday night.