DECATUR - Two young soldiers step out of their Humvee, keeping an eye on the two large yellow Labrador retrievers in the driveway. They mount the steps of a well-kept farmhouse, knock on the door and look inside the window.

"I don't see any power," said Spc. Tyler Detwiler, 21, of the Illinois National Guard, reporting to his platoon leader, Lt. Brian Mays, standing a few feet away. "There is one vehicle. It is iced up. Doesn't look like it's been moved in awhile."

Det-wiler walks a few steps to the garage and reports that it is empty.

"It looks like they're displaced," Mays said.

Mays, Detwiler and Spc. Arturo Resend-ez, 20, all of the Pontiac-based Alpha Company, 106th Aviation, spent the afternoon checking on residents in rural Mount Zion. The soldiers handed out papers with emergency phone numbers and safety tips.

They were among about 250 Guard members from three units who arrived Tuesday in Decatur, activated to ensure Macon County residents are safe and receiving necessary services. The task force also includes members of the Springfield-based 233rd Military Police and Salem-based Delta Company, 130th Infantry Regiment.

Col. Robert Pratt, task force commander, said the Guard's mission is to assess the situation, especially in areas hit hardest by the ice storm and those without power.

At the end of the day, Pratt said the soldiers checked 3,281 houses in Macon County.

"We've identified 45 displaced civilians through the day that needed help," Pratt said, adding that nobody was discovered in a serious condition of neglect. "We had a gas leak that was detected. We identified 198 power lines down."

Major Gen. Randal Thomas, adjutant general of the Illinois National Guard, said he received word from Gov. Rod Blagojevich's office Monday to assist Macon County. Guard members worked in East St. Louis on Saturday and Sunday, a city that also was hit hard by the storm Thursday night.

On Tuesday, Blagojevich declared 49 counties as disaster areas, including Christian, DeWitt, Logan, Macon, Piatt, Sangamon and Shelby counties.

Phil Anello, coordinator for the Macon County Emergency Management Agency, said the declaration will free up more state resources, especially for debris removal.

Decatur Mayor Paul Osborne said city crews will begin to pick up tree limbs and foliage left at the curbside today. Osborne said residents should cut debris into segments no longer than 8 feet.

Anello said the main concern is the 37,000 people still without power in Macon County. He urged people to check on neighbors and relatives who might be without electricity.

Ameren Corp. continues efforts to restore power, said company spokesman Tony Wilkins.

"We're one of the hardest hit areas in Illinois," Wilkins said.

The power company hopes to restore power to the "vast majority" of customers by Friday, Wilkins said.

Even then, thousands of customers likely still will not have service restored because of problems at their homes that need to be corrected by an electrician or contractor hired by the homeowner, Wilkins said.

"Be extremely safe around downed limbs, around downed poles and downed wires," Wilkins said. "We always have to assume that each wire is hot. You can't assume by looking at it that it's the cable or the telephone line. It could be the power line."

The soldiers, some of whom did not have winter coats as they withstood frigid temperatures, did their best to make sure the homes they checked did not contain people in trouble.

As the soldiers checked out the farmhouse with the dogs, a rural mail carrier pulled up. Mays flagged him down, asking him if the mail had been picked up and if he knew the family was safe.

The carrier told him the family cleaned out the box regularly, and he noticed a family member's truck parked at a nearby house.

Satisfied that the family was fine, the Guardsmen got back into their Humvee and drove down the road to the next house.

In Decatur, Duane Cuttill, 74, said he was glad when he saw soldiers walking toward his east side home.

"You've come to rescue me," he told the soldiers.

Cuttill, who has been without power for five days, has been keeping warm by the heat from gas burners on his stove. He said he is more hopeful now to get his power restored after calling Ameren on Tuesday.

He has not been able to drive because his vehicles have been blocked by downed power lines. But he does not want to leave home.

"I'm keeping warm here. I've got my insulated underwear, plenty of food and water, but no electricity," he said.

A former Guard member in the 1950s, Cuttill said he appreciated the soldiers' visit.

"I was glad to see them," he said, "glad to get the numbers for the power company."

Huey Freeman can be reached at hfreeman@herald-review.com or 421-6985. Mike Frazier contributed to this report.