ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Power is returning to thousands of Missourians as freezing rainfall dwindles across the western part of the state. But forecasters warn the dropping temperatures could still cause problems as roadways freeze over.

In hard-hit northwest Missouri, about 59,000 customers remained without power late Tuesday, according to Raytown, Mo.-based Aquila, Inc. The company said outages are concentrated in the towns of St. Joseph and Maryville. About 400 additional linemen have been called in from other states to help to restore power.

St. Louis-based AmerenUE reports that just more than 10,000 homes and businesses remain without power in central Missouri, down from roughly 42,000 after a winter storm first hit this weekend.

The National Weather Service said Wednesday that freezing rain tapered off in western Missouri in the morning hours. But ice was likely to build on untreated roadways as temperatures fell into the 20s during the afternoon.

Northwest Missouri was hit by four straight days of freezing rain this week.

"We're a mess," said Christy Forney, Nodaway County's emergency management director on Tuesday.

National guardsmen arrived Tuesday to help ensure the safety of residents in Maryville and other northwest Missouri communities.

In northeast Missouri towns like Bowling Green and Palmyra, more freezing rain was adding to the layer -- in some places 2 inches thick -- of sleet and frozen precipitation already on the ground.

It was already bad enough in Maryville, a scenic college town of 11,000 residents. Forney estimated that about three-quarters of the county was blacked out Tuesday afternoon, mostly because heavy ice accumulations knocked down limbs and power lines.

"In some cases the power poles are down over the roads," Forney said. "And now the National Weather Service says we'll get colder and we'll get some wind. It may be two or three days before the power is completely restored."

Shelters opened at a community center and a church in Maryville, though most people were either toughing it out or staying with relatives. Members of the Missouri National Guard arrived to help transport people to shelter, clean up debris, and perhaps go door-to-door to check on some residents.

Dozens of wrecks, mostly fender-benders, have been reported around the state over the last several days. St. Louis-area emergency rooms have been busy treating more than 100 slip-and-fall injuries -- mostly fractured ankles and wrists and cuts and bruises from falls on slippery sidewalks, stairs and driveways.

St. Louis has largely escaped the icy conditions, with temperatures in the high 30s and low 40s.

Gov. Matt Blunt issued an executive order giving the Missouri Department of Natural Resources the discretion to waive regulations concerning waste disposal in some counties to allow for faster elimination of storm-related debris.

At least three deaths in Missouri were blamed on bad weather since the weekend.

A 92-year-old man was killed when a limb hit him in the head Monday as he tried to cut down an ice-damaged tree outside his home near Carl Junction, north of Joplin, Jasper County Coroner Jerry Neil said.

Ralph Struchtemeyer, 56, of Hartsburg, was killed Sunday while cutting down a tree near his house when a different tree buckled from the ice and fell on him.

Neilson Rudd, 22, of the St. Louis suburb of Wildwood, died Sunday evening after he got out of his vehicle to check on an accident on U.S. 63 near Jefferson City and was struck by another vehicle that skidded on an ice-covered bridge.