OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Several Nebraska schools, businesses and institutions have remained closed a second day as workers try to reopen snow-covered roads. Authorities said Wednesday that motorists are still barred from several stretches of Interstate 80 and other highways as snowplows and road graders scrape pavement and push aside ice, slush and snow from a massive storm that developed across the state Tuesday.

The National Weather Service reports that more than 18 inches of snow has been recorded in Grand Island and nearly 16 inches in nearby Hastings. Both cities are in south-central Nebraska. The northeast Nebraska communities of Verdigre and Wayne had 16 inches of snow, with 14 inches reported in Norfolk.

Utilities report that electricity has been restored to almost all of the more than 20,000 customers who’d lost power.