ANDOVER — Pulling suitcases and clutching teddy bears and video games, families flocked to River Road area hotels yesterday looking for the power and warmth they couldn't get at home.

Lori DeLuca and her family checked into Springhill Suites because they had no running water and no electricity in Pelham, N.H. A handful of their neighbors soon followed, bringing along their children, laptop computers, toys and luggage.

They all recalled the stormy night before, with electricity going out around 11 p.m., and pre-dawn crashes and booms outside as ice-covered limbs and branches fell to the ground.

"It's just been crazy," said Bruce Herrling of Pelham, who checked into Springhill Suites with his wife, Lisa, and three children, ages 3 to 8. The family dined at nearby Chili's last night and planned to pass the time by taking dips in the hotel pool.

But the family couldn't take along their two cats and dog so Bruce ventured back home last night to feed the pets.

The temperature dipped to 52 degrees in George and Claire Joynson's Andover home yesterday afternoon. With no fireplace or auxiliary heat source, the coupled decided to check into a hotel just five miles away from home. They booked a room until Monday morning.

"We thought we better not take a chance and have a warm place to stay," George said.

The DeLucas and Herrlings also booked through the weekend, although they hope not to have to stay that long. DeLuca said the timing of the storm couldn't have been any worse.

"It's not an expense any of us wanted right before Christmas," she said.