Roads have reopened, missing people have been found and the lights have come back on in North Dakota after a snow storm that many will not soon forget.

In Dickinson, the reminders were everywhere Thursday - damaged and destroyed trees on lawns and in roadways, blocking some of them.

"I would say, conservatively, we've got major damage on 50 percent of the trees," said Greg Sund, administrator of the city of 16,000 people.

About 15 National Guard soldiers and equipment were dispatched to the southwestern North Dakota city to help local officials with cleanup, a day after troops helped rescue hundreds of stranded motorists in the region. Gov. John Hoeven said the tree cleanup also involved state Transportation Department equipment that was diverted from the eastern part of the state Wednesday to help with the rescue effort.

"Our primary concern continues to be public safety," the governor said. "That means making sure that roads are clear of fallen trees and debris to ensure that ambulances, fire trucks and other emergency vehicles can reach their destinations."

North Dakota's major roads reopened Thursday as crews cleared away up to 2 feet of snow from the winter storm that the National Weather Service said was one of the earliest major storms on record in the state. In Dickinson, trucks leaving the city created traffic jams.

Darryl Berg, an electric cooperative lineman from Killdeer, went missing for several hours after he ventured out on a snowmobile Wednesday night to check on a power line. He was found at a rural granary Thursday morning.

"He's OK. He just had snowmobile trouble," said Tom Miller, general manager of McKenzie County Electric Cooperative.

Miller said Berg left his crew to follow a power line on the snowmobile Wednesday night, but the snowmobile's track became clogged with snow. Berg walked to the shelter of some bushes, then noticed the lights of the granary and walked there to spend the night. Searchers followed his tracks Thursday morning.

After the lineman was found, a National Guard Blackhawk helicopter was diverted to search for a missing 73-year-old Mott man, who was found in Dickinson unharmed Thursday morning, Guard spokesman Rob Keller said. No one else was reported missing Thursday, Keller said.

"Everything turned out great," he said.

Interstate 94, the state's main east-west artery, was reopened west of Bismarck at midmorning. Many roads in the state remained covered with ice, though conditions improved as temperatures warmed throughout the day.

Snowfall amounts ranging from 15 inches to 24 inches were reported from the storm in a band stretching from Dickinson to Langdon, in the northeast.

The storm knocked out power to thousands of people in the western part of the state and into Montana as well. Montana-Dakota Utilities spokesman Dan Sharp said most had their power back by Thursday morning and crews were working later in the day on the isolated outages that remained in Dickinson and smaller towns. Some likely would remain without power until today.

Otter Tail Power Co. spokeswoman Cris Kling said only three of 39 communities in northern North Dakota that lost power remained without electricity Thursday afternoon. Crews expected to restore power to the customers in Bisbee, Mylo and Perth sometime Thursday night, she said. In one area near Perth, she said, crews found 26 power poles down.

In Minot, crews were trying to clean up fallen trees that knocked out power lines, but were hampered by snow and ice. "A lot of the stuff is frozen to the ground," said Alan Walter, the city's public works director.

Minot reported wind gusts of nearly 50 mph and as many as 5,000 people without power during the storm. The Minot Air Force Base required only essential personnel to report for duty Wednesday.

Xcel Energy spokeswoman Bonnie Lund said late Thursday afternoon that about 2,000 people in Minot still remained without power. "The vast majority will be back in service by the end of tomorrow," she said.

Xcel brought in workers from Minnesota, South Dakota and eastern North Dakota to help with tree removals and repairs, she said.

Classes at Minot State University, which were canceled Wednesday, resumed Thursday, the university said.

Bob Finken, who farms near Douglas south of Minot, said the snowfall will "put a kink in fall work, at least for four, five days to a week."

"There's always work to do (in the fall) - take care of flax straw, any weed problems out in the fields, haul hay," Finken said.

"If (grazing cattle) can't eat because the grass is under snow, they basically have nothing to eat until the snow melts or the rancher takes hay out to them," Finken said.