Nearly 3M may spend days without power

At least 11 deaths are blamed on this weekend's pre-winter snowstorm that dumped up to two feet of heavy, wet snow in parts of the Northeast.

The snow has been a disaster for trees still covered in fall foliage, snapping limbs and downing power lines.

The snow came so early in the year the trees still had leaves, weighing them down and snapping branches - which in turn snapped power lines.

This morning, nearly 3 million homes and businesses across the region are still without power, reports CBS News correspondent Jim Axelrod. In Connecticut, 800,000 customers lost power - a new record; more than 600,000 in New Jersey; 300,000-plus in New York; 250,000 in Pennsylvania; and there are more than 11,000 outages in Western Maryland.

It could be the end of the week before power is restored to all who are without it.

Connecticut Light and Power said it has more than 300 crews working to restore power and plans to add 450 crews from out of state. The work is slowed by downed trees.

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Rare Oct. snowstorm hits Northeast

Records were set in New York City where 2.9 inches of snow fell in Central Park. They'd never measured even an inch here on any October day since 1869. Concord, N.H., got 13.6 inches, which broke a 59-year-old record; Bristol, Conn., got 17 inches of snow; and Plainfield, Mass., more than 30 inches.

Forty-eight Amtrak passengers bound for Boston were stranded for 13 hours overnight.

In Hartford, Conn., 126 passengers got stuck on a JetBlue plane on the tarmac for more than seven hours, with no food, water or bathrooms. A JetBlue spokeswoman said power outages at the airport made refueling and deplaning difficult.

The chainsaws were busy in West Milford, N.J. where 19 inches of snow fell - the highest amount in the state. Peter and Faith Delaney lost 16 trees.

It will cost them thousands the clear the mess. But they consider themselves lucky. "Absolutely," said Peter Delaney. "Didn't hit the house. That's all we care about."

Some local officials canceled or postponed Halloween activities, fearful that young trick-or-treaters could wander into areas with downed power lines or trees ready to topple over.

"With so many wires down...the sidewalks will not be safe for pedestrians (Monday) night," said Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton told The Hartford Courant. "We have 200 streets with wires down ... (we) would hate to have children hurt."

As the people of the northeastern United States dig out from this mess, they'll do so haunted by the calendar. There's still 52 days left before the official start of winter.