About 26,000 homes and businesses in Nova Scotia were still without electricity Tuesday morning after the season's first blizzard nearly brought the region to a standstill.

Nova Scotia Power sent out extra crews at daybreak to restore power to customers.

Most communities are expected to be reconnected by Tuesday night, but about 2,000 customers in the Barrington Passage area will likely have to wait until Wednesday before power is restored.

NSP spokeswoman Glennie Langille said downed trees across power lines throughout the province are causing most of the problems.

"Even though we restored power to tens of thousands of people overnight, we're putting a lot of effort into deploying 100 crews at daybreak to tackle those very issues," Langille told CBC News.

"It's an awful lot easier to tackle trees down and trees on lines in the daylight hours, she said. Langille said about 15 crews from New Brunswick Power arrived to help NSP.

Seeking shelter from cold

In Yarmouth, volunteers at a local fire hall provided cots and meals for 15 people whose homes were too cold to sleep in overnight Monday.

"(They) still don't have power in their houses and didn't want to go to their homes," said Harold Richardson, emergency management co-ordinator for the area.

"During the day yesterday, we had about 60 or so to feed them and everything," he said. Similar comfort centres were set up throughout the province where emergency officials have identified the need.

Stanfield International Airport near Halifax was busy Tuesday morning, with many delayed travellers hoping to leave.

Airport spokesman Peter Spurway said the airlines planned to add flights to deal with the backlog, and there were long lineups at ticket counters.

"The outlook for the day is pretty good," Spurway told CBC News. "The weather should be OK.

"The runways are a bit of a challenge. We have some ice issues and the wind makes it difficult to put down sand or ice-inhibiting chemicals."

Marine Atlantic also hoped to get ferry service back on schedule between North Sydney and Port aux Basques, N.L.

The high winds and storm surges had disrupted scheduled crossings between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. But all crossings were scheduled to depart on time with weather permitting.

The Department of Transportation warned motorists of reduced visibility and icy conditions on many roads throughout the province. There was reduced visibility on Highway 101 between Mount Uniake and Windsor and between Bridgetown and Bear River due to blowing snow.

Parts of Highway 101 were snow-covered. There was also reduced visibility due to blowing snow along Trans-Canada Highway 104 between James River and Port Hawkesbury.