PORTLAND, Maine —The ice storm that slammed northern Vermont over the weekend is winding down – now the cleanup begins as one of the state’s largest utilities said power could be out beyond Christmas.

Ice is weighing down trees and power lines, causing thousands of outages. About 17,000 people remained without electricity in Vermont Monday, mostly in Franklin, Lamoille and Orleans counties.

Photos: New England ice storm

In Maine, tens of thousands of electric customers remain without power as the ice storm continues to put the state in a deep freeze.

Central Maine Power Co. reported nearly 29,000 people without power, a dramatic jump from the 500 outages reported Monday morning.

Bangor Hydro reported more than 14,000 customers without power early Monday afternoon. That’s double the number from Monday morning.

Hancock and Washington counties are the hardest hit. The utility is blaming icing on power lines and tree limbs, but is diverting crews from less affected areas to get the power back on as soon as possible

Officials in Vermont are asking people who do not need to drive to stay inside. They are also asking neighbors to check on each other.

Airports in Burlington and Plattsburgh are open following closures Sunday.