BILLINGS -- Another record dump of heavy snow overnight cut power to thousands of homes Sunday and had emergency responders scrambling to keep up with calls for downed power lines.

Billings saw a total three-day accumulation of about 12 inches, according to the National Weather Service, which measures snowfall at Billings Logan International Airport. However, Meteorologist Matt Solum said totals varied throughout the city. In the area northwest of town above the Rims, about 22 inches fell, and the Heights got about 16 inches of snow. On the West End, at Solum's office, there was about 15 inches.

The snow prompted local officials to declare a civil emergency for the City of Billings and urged drivers to limit travel to emergency only. Billings police officers and Montana Highway Patrol troopers responded to dozens of accidents, but none were serious.

NorthWestern Energy crews are continuing to work around the clock in 16-hour shifts, and 13 crews were spread across the city Sunday. Three additional crews were sent from Bozeman to assist in restoring power, and eight NorthWestern Energy tree-trimming crews removed broken limbs from power lines.

Early Sunday, an estimated 10,000 homes were without power in the Heights, northwest Billings, downtown and on the West End after four "feeder" sites went down. Power was restored to most of the homes by about 1:15 p.m. with another 2,200 homes coming on by about 4 p.m.

Later in the day, NorthWestern Energy crews shifted focus to the hundreds of homes without power that were scattered across the city. Many of the homes had downed power lines in their back yards with power lines pulled from the houses.

Some customers may have to hire an electrician to fix the damage. In some cases, the weight of the snow causes the overhead meter service or mast head attached to the house to become damaged or pull away from the side of the house. In those cases, an electrician must repair the damage before power can be restored.

A business park near the airport was one of the few commercial areas to report problems. Crews were working on damage to the underground wire.

Saturday, about 2,500 customers lost power in scattered sections across Billings. By 10 p.m. Saturday, all but about 700 of those customers had service. Saturday night, three major feeder lines were out, leaving 3,500 customers without power until late Saturday or early Sunday.

In outlying areas served by Yellowstone Valley Electric Co-op, about 250 to 300 people were without power, but it was restored by late afternoon. Seven line crews and three tree-trimming crews worked throughout the day.

Lockwood posed a particular problem said Terry Holzer, general manager of the cooperative. "Lockwood has no alleyways. The yards are built back-to-back, so we can't get equipment in. The trees along the main roads, we can get access to. But in people's yards, the fences are built right up against each other," he said.

Billings Fire Department engines were the first to respond to the calls of downed power lines.

Firefighters responded to the homes and secured the areas to be sure the downed lines were not arcing or posing fire hazards. Then it was a call to dispatch to "put 'em on the list" for a response from NorthWestern Energy. Calls were prioritized according to the risk they posed for residents or neighborhoods.

Saturday, the fire department logged more than 125 calls. Sunday, the number was even higher with 185 calls by nightfall, with calls continuing into the night.

Firefighters went from one call to the next with barely any time between.

"We had a couple of times there when we opened up the back door and got a call and then opened up the front door and drove out, waving to the station on the way through," said Mike Martin, an engineer assigned to Engine 5.

Areas in Billings' downtown, South Side and North Park neighborhoods appeared to have sustained the worst damage from broken tree limbs.

Burlington Avenue was a winding maze of broken branches, and more branches littered the sidewalk and covered yards. Neighboring streets looked the same.

The whine of chainsaws could be heard in most every neighborhood as residents donned snowboots and winter gloves to clean up branches.

All weekend, the City of Billings had about 10 people working to remove downed tree branches in streets, said Jeff Wickham, supervisor at the city's Street and Traffic Division, and their work is expected to continue all week.

Ferron Anderson spent about two hours Sunday afternoon with a small bow saw cleaning up the broken tree limbs in his front yard on South 39th Street. Some were as large as six inches in diameter and they all still held summer-green leaves. Another big branch hung precariously over his driveway, where a friend, Jody Bliesner, shoveled snow.

Anderson counts it a good year when there isn't snow until after his birthday, Oct. 14. "I don't think I've seen snow like this since I was a little kid," he said.

He was thankful his house never lost power, and before the snow started to fall heavily, he moved his car onto the street and out from under the trees.

In Billings' far West End, a stiff wind caused heavy drifting. David and Sharon Marble, who live in the Indian Cliffs subdivision atop the Rims along Highway 3 returned to Billings Friday after a two-week trip to look at fall leaves on the aspens at Glacier and Banff National Parks. It was 70 degrees as they toured the parks. But when they returned to Billings on Friday evening, the snow had already begun piling up. By Saturday, the snow was up to Sharon's knees. On Sunday, the entrance to her neighbor's garage had chest-deep drifts.

David, who owns Billings Nursery, started plowing the subdivision's roads at 7:30 a.m. Sunday, using a truck from the nursery with a V-shaped blade.

"It's too heavy to push with a flat blade," Sharon said.

Before noon, the couple ventured down to a Billings grocery, plowing the route to the highway.

"There's so much more wind up here, the drifting is really a problem," she said.

During their trip to town, David picked up a snowblower from the nursery to continue helping neighbors.

"I'm still not sure I can get my car out," Marble said. "On my porch, my twig furniture is totally covered with snow. There's at least 10 inches of snow and that's under a covered deck."

Although the Montana Department of Transportation issued emergency-travel-only advisories for most highways from Park to Custer counties, none of the highways were closed due to the snow. While the Montana Highway Patrol and other emergency responders responded to numerous slide-offs, most drivers were prudent and no serious accidents were reported.

In Red Lodge, cross-country skiers took to the streets to get around, and snowmobiles were parked in front of the Lost Village Bar in Roberts. Red Lodge received 42 inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service, and one woman reported snow to the top of her four-foot tall picket fence. In Stillwater County, Absarokee received 32 inches of snow, and residents in the Nye and Beehive reported being buried in more than three feet of snow. Reed Point received 32 inches. To the east, Hardin and most of Big Horn County received about a foot of snow, and to the west, Big Timber received 10 inches. Further east, Ekalaka got about 12 inches of snow.

Reporter Donna Healy contributed to this article