WORCESTER, Mass. -- It was one year ago that a devastating ice storm hit central Massachusetts, leaving thousands of residents without power, some for as long as two weeks.

By the time the Dec. 11 storm was over, ice had coated trees and power lines, leaving an estimated 1.4 million electric customers in the region in the cold and in the dark. For some, it was a nightmare that seemed like it would never end.

Tree branches and power lines snapped like toothpicks and nearly 400,000 Massachusetts residents lost power.

The majority of the outages affected the Unitil power company's customers. A year later, the power company said it has identified ways to avoid the same problems the next time there's a storm. For starters, they will staff so that they can actually handle more emergency calls.

"At the call center itself we've doubled the number of phone lines coming in," said Richard Francazio, Unitil's director of emergency management

"We have changed just about every aspect of the emergency response plan," he said.

Some of the changes include planning for big storms three days ahead of time, maintaining a network of extra resources, such as tree trimmers and line crews, and establishing an emergency command center with three regional offices.

The state also took action following the storm. Investor-owned electric and gas companies are now required to file their emergency plans with the state every year. The central part of the state will receive $5.5 million in aid that will go to 165 communities. Already, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, said it has distributed $49.2 million in Massachusetts, with almost half going to the cleanup and removal of debris.

National Grid is the other utility company with many customers in central Massachusetts and it said it has also enacted new emergency plans.