ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) UPDATED: — Thousands of Rockford area customers are still without power Thursday afternoon.

A message on the utility’s website says some outages may not be restored until Saturday, February 25th, or early Sunday, February 26th, due to the size and scale of the storm.

ComEd says it believes 80% of the outages will be restored by Thursday evening.

Wednesday’s ice storm knocked down power lines throughout the stateline, with 73,000 still without power as of Thursday afternoon.

In Rockford, 6,500 households are still without power.

Layers of ice on trees, roads and equipment create additional hazards for utility crews leading to additional outages and longer restoration times well after the storm has passed.

On Thursday afternoon, ComEd said it had restored power to nearly 140,000 customers across northern Illinois. The utility said a total of nearly 260,000 were without power.

“ComEd and contractor crews will be working around the clock to restore power to customers,” ComEd said in a news release.

“Nine hundred additional crew members will arrive in Illinois today to support safe and swift recovery efforts,” the release continued.