[5] Almost a week after the storm still more than 100,000 customers were without power, affecting the holiday shopping season and crippling the business and transportation of many northeast cities for days.

[6] The storm resulted in a state of emergency being declared by Governor David Paterson in sixteen counties in New York.

[citation needed] In Massachusetts up to one million residents and businesses lost power due to the storm, causing Governor Deval Patrick to declare a state of emergency[10] and mobilize at least 500 National Guardsmen to help the clean-up efforts.

The American Red Cross of Northeastern New York opened multiple shelters around the Capital District to give residents a warm place to stay and eat.

[1] Hotels,[14] hardware stores,[15] malls, and restaurants[16] that either had power or a generator saw a boom in business during the entire weekend as many residents went out to finish up holiday shopping, eat, and stay warm.