An overnight storm carrying freezing rain and high winds has left thousands of people in the Maritimes without power.

At one point, more than 11,000 customers lost their power in Fredericton and surrounding areas, though by mid-afternoon Thursday, NB Power said there were about 6,500 customers without power because of 92 outages. There were also scattered outages affecting roughly 4,000 customers in Nova Scotia.

Much of the outage is being blamed on a buildup of ice on power lines.

Flooding has been reported in Fredericton, Oromocto, Saint John and other locations in New Brunswick, and schools in many regions have been closed for a second day.

Saint John recorded between 75 and 80 millimetres of precipitation; Fredericton saw about 50 mm.

Water in some places in Saint John is described as a foot deep and has led to the closures of many major streets. City crews are working to clear storm drains and culverts before the mercury falls and the floodwaters turn to ice.

People living near streams and small rivers in the southern part of the province are being warned about localized flooding.

In Halifax, police are warning that water could be covering a layer of ice and could lead to road accidents. As well, a number of flights in and out of Halifax Stanfield International Airport have been delayed or cancelled.

In the Nova Scotia town of Oxford, localized flooding in the downtown area has caused the town to go into emergency mode. The local Red Cross has created a "comfort centre" in the local Lion's Club.