UPDATE: Obama grants Gov. Lynch's request, declares state of emergency in N.H.

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2:27 p.m.: President Obama has declared a state of emergency in New Hampshire, granting a request made by Gov. John Lynch yesterday.

The declaration will help the state funnel direct federal assistance for things like shelter, emergency generators and water to affected communities in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, according to a press release from the governor's office. The aid will also help in clearing roads, officials said.

State agencies are working with FEMA to continue assessing damages caused by the storm, a process that could ultimately lead the governor to request a major disaster declaration, according to the release.

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12:38 p.m.: The state's first storm-related fatality has been reported in Lincoln, where the police say a construction worker died this morning when a stone wall fell on him.

Lincoln Police Chief Ted Smith said the man was helping pour a foundation for a home being constructed on a sloped mountainside.

"The entire area was soaking wet, and the hole was filled with water from runoff. They apparently tried to pump the water out," Smith said. "The ground gave way and basically you had a mud slide and water slide because the foundation itself became a dam and he was carried down a two or three story fall."

Other construction workers pulled the man out from underneath the stone wall and began administering CPR, Smith said. Paramedics arriving on the scene shortly before 8:30 a.m. also administered CPR, but the man was pronounced dead in the ambulance.

Smith said the man is in his 50s and is not being identified pending notification of family members.

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10:56 a.m.: More than 180,000 New Hampshire homes are without power this morning, and state officials say residents could be waiting until the end of the week or possibly into the weekend before electricity is fully restored.

Officials said that the storm known as Sandy, which barreled through the state yesterday afternoon into this morning, caused no major car accidents or fatalities. But with another 1-3 inches of rain possible today, officials warned that flooding, while a minimal concern, could cause further damage

“The bottom line is we’re not out of this yet,” said Chris Pope, the state’s director of emergency management.

“We still (have) some concerns particularly with respect to the bands of rain that are going to be coming through the state and the potential impact that could have on some of our watersheds, including in the White Mountains area north.”

State officials said that at the peak about 210,000 customers were without power, making this the fourth largest storm outage the state has seen, behind only the 2008 ice storm, 2009 wind storm, and October 2011 snow storm.

"We dont see the damage caused by extensive flooding with this storm that we've seen in the previous storms," Gov. John Lynch said at a press briefing this morning. "There has been minimal damage to infrastructure that we've seen so far in terms of roads and bridges. ... However to those people who are without power and who will end up going most of the week without power, it's still pretty significant for them."

Amy Ignatius, head of the state's Public Utilities Commission, said restoration shouldn't take as long as it has with other storms because while many wires are down there has not been overwhelming damage to poles.