Tens of thousands of homes and businesses remained without power as cold daytime temperatures sunk below freezing overnight in a region unaccustomed and ill-equipped for such weather. Roughly 332,000 homes and businesses remained without power Wednesday, the vast majority of them in Tennessee and Mississippi. Sliger said people who were prepared to manage a couple of days without power can’t go much longer without help. More than 100,000 outages remained in Nashville, Tennessee, where downed trees and snapped power lines blocked access to some areas. Scott Simmons, spokesperson for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, said its drivers were having to find alternate routes to avoid the backups.