Updated 9:07 PM ET December 27, 2000

   By BRIAN SKOLOFF, Associated Press Writer 

   LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Using lessons mastered just two weeks ago, Dave Kaffenberger closed off a few rooms of his house and gathered his family around the hearth after an ice storm knocked out the electricity. 

   "We lit a half-dozen candles and played Clue," Kaffenberger said in his darkened home Wednesday. "It's an extended Christmas. That's the way I'm looking at it." 

   Ice and snow across the southern Plains since Sunday have brought down power lines and cut electricity to more than 590,000 homes and businesses. In some places, people were without telephone service and power outages disabled municipal water pumps. 

   The cold and ice have been blamed for 14 deaths since Monday: four in New Mexico, nine in Texas and one in Missouri. 

   Texas was expected to see drier weather on Thursday, but more freezing rain was forecast for parts of Arkansas, Mississippi and northern Louisiana. Wintry mixes were also possible in Alabama and Georgia. 

   It is the second time around for the Kaffenbergers and others. An ice storm knocked out power to nearly 250,000 customers in Arkansas on Dec. 12-13. Some homes were not reconnected until last Friday. 

   "The temperature in the house is 50 and dropping, so it's getting to the point where it's going to be too cold to stay here," said Pat O'Connor, stuck with his family in Little Rock late Wednesday. 

   Entergy Arkansas, which reported 210,000 customers in the dark, said it could be Jan. 5 before all power is restored. Rural electric cooperatives pushed the total outage in Arkansas to more than 315,000. 

   The lights were also out for 120,000 people in Oklahoma; 106,000 in Texas; and 50,000 in Louisiana. 

   More than a foot of snow and ice virtually shut down the Texas Panhandle on Wednesday, stranding travelers and closing businesses. Other parts of northern Texas were without electricity for the third straight day, and dozens of flights were canceled in Dallas and Amarillo. 

   The Little Rock airport, closed since Monday, reopened Wednesday. 

   Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said state government workers could return to work Thursday, though he asked for federal help in bouncing back from the storm. The lights and telephone were out at the mobile home Huckabee and his family are using during renovations at the governor's mansion. 

   Curfews were set up in other Arkansas communities, including Texarkana, where there was minor looting. Gas stations in Ashdown rationed gas to weary Christmas travelers, while De Queen residents caught rain water off their roofs to flush toilets. People cooked on gas grills. 

   At Hot Springs, magnolia trees snapped beneath an inch of ice and people filled bottles with water at public taps. 

   "I just came down to get a jug to make formula for the baby," said Fanessa Davenport, also taking water back for an 86-year-old neighbor. 

   Kevin Byrd said he had to use a chain saw to cut his way to the downtown taps. "It looked like a tornado had been through," he said. 

   Some residents were taking the storm in stride. 

   "The beer's already out on the deck keeping cold," said Conway Rucks of Little Rock. 

   At Sallisaw, Okla., 62-year-old Opal Harbeston walked three miles to a shelter after her power went out: "I knew where I could find a nice warm place to stay. It's just like one big happy family." 

   Los Angeles native Jewell Flowers wasn't faring so well. Flowers, battling a cold, was stuck at the Tulsa bus station for a third straight day with about 15 other passengers, who slept on cots. 

   "Snow's pretty nice," Flowers said. "I don't like it, though." 

   Near Ada, Okla., Judith Caton cooked on a propane camp stove and kept tabs on the outside world with a battery-powered radio Wednesday, the second day without power. 

   "We're coping very well, and we're doing a lot of reading," she said. "I'm playing Pokemon monopoly with my 7-year-old son." 

   Kaffenberger's two daughters, ages 6 and 9, enjoyed camping out in their own living room, keeping warm by the gas fireplace. During the last outage, the family moved to a hotel. This time, the Kaffenbergers were stuck because of a fallen power line across their hill. 

   Elsewhere in Little Rock, Tony and Ann Weaver lit their gas stove for an hour or so, then turned it off and enjoyed the warmth while it lasted. "It heats up the house to where it's bearable," he said. 

   The southern Plains see icy weather a few times each year, but seldom so much so often. 

   "I came south to get away from this," said Renee Puskas, a gas station manager in Hot Springs. "I told my kids I lived in Ohio all my life and I've never seen anything like this."