SANDY’S AFTERMATH
| Millions of people from Maine to the Carolinas awoke Tuesday without power, and an eerily quiet New York City was all but closed off by car, train and air as super storm Hurricane Sandy steamed inland, still delivering punishing wind and rain.The full extent of the damage in New Jersey, where the storm roared ashore Monday night with hurricane force, was unclear. Police and fire officials, some with their own departments flooded, fanned out to rescue hundreds. The $50billion superstorm: Full picture of the devastation wreaked by Sandy revealed in heartbreaking shots of US East Coast homes.Super storm Sandy has claimed lives of at least 55 people on US East Coast with New Jersey and NYC badly affected
|  From the lowest lying areas of the New Jersey shoreline, where residents were already being encouraged to leave, to the state's northern highlands, where sandbags were being filled and cars moved into car parks on higher ground, New Jersey began preparing in earnest for Hurricane Sandy on Monday. Along the boardwalk at Asbury Park in New Jersey, a few hardy souls ventured out to watch the building fury of Hurricane Sandy. Businesses were boarded up and sandbags in place as the storm lashed the coastline. Even so, residents of nearby towns walked out into the face of the storm to see for themselves.  The brunt of Hurricane Sandy's powerful winds, surf and rain hit the New Jersey coastline and the nation's most populous city. NewsHour examines the situation in New York and in the greater Northeast region, where schools and public transportation closed down, flights were canceled and an estimated 6.2 million people lost power. This is almost like a tsunami as 20 foot high waves engulfed communities closed to the waterfront. See my posting entitled East Coast Tsunami. To those who are still in doubt…..” ITS GLOBAL WARMING STUPID”  New Yorkers awoke to widespread powercuts and flooding on Tuesday, after Superstorm Sandy hit the city on Monday evening. An unprecedented 13-foot (3.9-metre) surge of seawater - 3 feet (90 centimetres) above the previous record - gushed into lower Manhattan, inundating tunnels, subway stations and the electrical system that powers Wall Street. These are the heartbreaking pictures of homes and communities across the US East Coast ravaged by a deadly superstorm that has shocked the world. Barack Obama will today meet victims of Superstorm Sandy in New Jersey - skipping campaign events in battleground US regions in favour of visiting a state he is confident of winning - as it was revealed the total damage caused by Superstorm Sandy is expected to eventually hit $50billion (£31billion). The President's visit today - just six days before the election is due next Tuesday - has forced his Republican challenger Mitt Romney to walk a careful line, with him having to show respect for the storm’s casualties along the East Coast, even though he can't afford to waste a minute of campaign time. On fire: This photo from the New Jersey Governor's Office shows damage north of Seaside, New Jersey, on Tuesday after Superstorm Sandy made landfall Severe damage: This picture provided by the US Coast Guard shows property damages along the New Jersey coast caused by Hurricane Sandy on Tuesday Underwater: This picture provided shows flooded homes in Tuckerton, New Jersey, after Superstorm Sandy made landfall on the southern New Jersey coastline Flooding: A Portion of Harvey Cedars on Long Beach Island, New Jersey is underwater on Tuesday, a day after Superstorm Sandy blew across the state Uprooted: This picture provided by the US Coast Guard shows property damage along the New Jersey coast caused by Hurricane Sandy on Tuesday Changed landscape This photo from the New Jersey Governor's Office shows flooding on the bay side of Seaside, New Jersey, on Tuesday after Sandy made landfall Just still there: The damage caused by Hurricane Sandy to the New Jersey coast, in a photo taken during a search and rescue mission BEFORE AND AFTER: THE DEVASTATING IMPACT OF SUPERSTORM SANDY ON ATLANTIC CITY'S HOLIDAY HOMESThese startling before-and-after pictures reveal what is left of parts of the East Coast. Just one solitary house was left standing on the east side of New Jersey's Mantoloking Bridge in Brick. Rows of Atlantic holiday homes were wiped out by the 900-mile storm with its surging waters and winds of 95mph. How it was: This image from Google Maps shows Mantoloking Bridge in Brick, New Jersey, before the devastation was caused by Superstorm Sandy Severe destruction: An aerial view from Greenpeace taken by Tim Aubry of the damage caused by Superstorm Sandy along the New Jersey coast in Brick After tamping down his partisan tone yesterday at an Ohio event that emphasised victims' relief, Mr Romney planned three full-blown campaign rallies today in Florida, the largest competitive state. Sandy largely spared Florida, so Mr Romney calculates he can campaign there without appearing callous. But President Obama’s revised schedule is also a political gamble. Rather than use the campaign's final Wednesday to woo voters in the tossup states that will decide the election, he will go before cameras with New Jersey's Republican governor, Chris Christie. Governor Christie is a prominent supporter of Mr Romney and a frequent critic of the President. But the Governor praised President Obama's handling of the response to Superstorm Sandy. This is a political twist the visit is sure to underscore. Their meeting comes as people in the heavily populated US East Coast corridor battered by Sandy took the first cautious steps to reclaim their upended daily routines today, even as rescuers combed neighbourhoods strewn with debris and scarred by floods and fire.By last night, the winds and flooding inflicted by the fast-weakening Sandy had subsided, leaving at least 55 people dead along the Atlantic Coast and splintering beachfront homes and boardwalks from the mid-Atlantic states to southern New England. The storm later moved across Pennsylvania on a predicted path toward western New York State and Canada. Contenders: US President Barack Obama (left) talks about damage done by Hurricane Sandy and rescue efforts while at the National Red Cross HQ in Washington D.C. yesterday; while Republican candidate Mitt Romney loads relief supplies for people affected by Hurricane Sandy into a truck at a relief campaign event in Kettering, Ohio Well done: President Obama, who will be keen to avoid a public relations disaster ahead of next week's presidential election, is applauded after his speech Speech: President Obama talks during his visit to the Disaster Operation Center of the Red Cross National HQ to discuss Superstorm Sandy on Tuesday Helping out: Romney loads tins of Campbell's soup for people affected by Superstorm Sandy during an appearance in Kettering, Ohio, on Tuesday Eerie: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (centre) views storm damage in the Breezy Point area of Queens, New York, after fire destroyed about 80 homes Extraordinary: Sand and debris covers the streets near the water in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Tuesday, after the area was wrecked by Superstorm Sandy Complete devastation: A lone piece of colour in a children's playground is pictured surrounded by sand and debris near the ocean in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Tuesday At the height of the disaster, more than 8.2 million customers lost electricity - some as far away as Michigan. Nearly a quarter of those without power were in New York, where lower Manhattan's usually bright lights remained dark for a second night. When Governor Christie stopped in Belmar, New Jersey, during a tour of the devastation, one woman wept openly and 42-year-old Walter Patrickis told him: ‘Governor, I lost everything.' Governor Christie, who called the shore damage‘unthinkable,’ said a full recovery would take months and it would likely be a week or more before power is restored to everyone who lost it. 'This is a tough time for millions of people. But America is tougher' US President Barack Obama ‘Now we've got a big task ahead of us that we have to do together. This is the kind of thing New Jerseyans are built for,’ he added. Governor Christie said that when he speaks with President Obama today, he plans to ask the President to assign the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to start working on how to rebuild beaches and find ‘the best way to rebuild the beach to protect these towns’. President Obama cancelled his campaign appearances up to today but is staying in the public eye as commander of federal relief efforts. Yesterday he visited the American Red Cross headquarters - a short walk from the White House to commiserate with victims and encourage aid workers. ‘This is a tough time for millions of people,’ the President said. ‘But America is tougher.’ Obama campaign senior adviser David Axelrod said today that the President intends to resume campaigning tomorrow. Campaign officials say the President will make stops in Green Bay, Wisconsin; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Boulder, Colorado. President Obama’s last campaign event was last Saturday in New Hampshire. He flew to Orlando on Sunday to attend a campaign rally on Monday with former President Bill Clinton but scrapped his campaign plans to return to Washington D.C. to monitor preparations for Superstorm Sandy. Still moving: A vehicle drives on a flooded street in Little Ferry, New Jersey, on Tuesday, after Superstorm Sandy made landfall on Monday evening Sea crash: Boats clustered together at a marina in Brant Beach, on Long Beach Island on the New Jersey shore on Tuesday, a day after Superstorm Sandy blew across Devastation: A beachfront home is gutted in Manasquan, New Jersey, following the dramatic storm which caused havoc across the US East Coast No Halloween: This photo taken on Tuesday shows a store with 'Boo Sandy' and 'Trick or Treat?' writing on wooden boards in Atlantic City, New Jersey Wreckage: The remains of a boardwalk and other debris is washed ashore following Superstorm Sandy, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Monday Aid: Bill Johnson is helped by a friend to remove one of his kayaks from a pile of debris in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Tuesday Ruined: People walk past debris in the area where a 2,000ft section of the boardwalk was destroyed, with the Showboat Casino in the background in Atlantic City Shock: People stand on a mound of construction dirt to view the area where a 2,000ft section of the boardwalk was destroyed by flooding in Atlantic City, New Jersey Amazed: Kim Johnson looks over the incredible destruction near her seaside apartment in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Tuesday Smashed up: The damaged front of an auto repair shop on Atlantic Avenue is seen in the aftermath of Sandy's landfall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Tuesday Shortly before it hit: Waves crash against a previously-damaged pier before landfall of Superstorm Sandy on Monday in Atlantic City, New Jersey Dangerous: A journalist walks in Atlantic City, New Jersey, as Superstorm Sandy hit the seaside area and most of the US East Coast on Monday Mr Romney wavered in his strategy. First the campaign said he would skip a rally in Ohio yesterday out of sympathy for the storm victims. Then Mr Romney decided to do the event but recast it as a storm-relief effort, shorn of the usual campaign speech. ‘It's part of the American spirit, the American way, to give to people in need,’ Mr Romney said in Kettering, Ohio, before supporters lined up to hand him bags of canned food for storm victims. Adding to Mr Romney's dilemma are the candidate's previous statements on the federal government's role in emergency management. He said he believes state and local governments should have primary responsibility for emergency clean-up. Mr Romney refused yesterday to answer repeated questions from reporters about what he would do with the Federal Emergency Management Agency if he wins the election. 'A Romney-Ryan administration will always ensure that disaster funding is there for those in need. Period' Spokesman for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney Asked about federal aid to help recover and rebuild from Sandy, a spokesman said: ‘A Romney-Ryan administration will always ensure that disaster funding is there for those in need. Period.’ For President Obama, missing a few days of active campaigning for vital presidential duties may be a good trade, politically speaking. Lingering anger about President George W. Bush's performance when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005 could provide a backdrop to benefit President Obama if he does a solid job. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, of the University of Pennsylvania, said a natural disaster gives a president ‘unlimited access to the media to say things the public wants and needs to hear in a fashion that reinforces that he is president.’ For President Obama, the federal response to the natural disaster could make or break his bid for a second term. His reputation could suffer if the federal government's response is feeble or botched. Collapse: Beach houses are left destroyed in the Bell Harbor community after Sandy inundated the Rockaway Peninsular in the borough of Queens, New York Response: Firefighters try to put out blazes at Breezy Point on Tuesday in Queens, New York. A fire broke out in the flooded community late on Monday night Pointing: Two men look at damage in the Breezy Point area of Queens, New York, on Tuesday after fire destroyed about 80 homes as a result of Superstorm Sandy Taking cover: The scene at 130th St and Newport Ave in Rockaway, Queens, New York, where many houses were burned down after Superstorm Sandy hit the area Destruction: A beach house is left destroyed in the Bell Harbor community after Superstorm Sandy inundated the Rockaway Peninsular in Queens, New York Little left: Beachfront properties in Rockaway, Queens, New York, where many houses were destroyed after Superstorm Sandy hit the area Throught the wreckage: After Superstorm Sandy hit New York, extensive damage and flooding was apparent throughout the city. Breezy Point in Queens is pictured While President Obama and Mr Romney moved cautiously yesterday, their campaigns exchanged sharp words in Ohio and expanded their operations into three Democratic-leaning states. Mr Romney's campaign is running ads in Minnesota and Pennsylvania, and a pro-Romney group is doing the same in Michigan. The three states were considered fairly safe for President Obama, but his campaign is taking the threat seriously. It sent former President Bill Clinton to Minnesota yesterday and it is buying airtime in all three states. Support: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is a prominent supporter of Mr Romney and a frequent critic of the President The Republican efforts could indicate that Mr Romney is desperately searching for a last-minute path to victory without all-important Ohio, where polls show President Obama has a slight edge. Or it could mean just the opposite, that Mr Romney's so confident in the most competitive battlegrounds that he's pressing for insurance against President Obama in what's expected to be a close race. Or perhaps the Republican simply has money to burn. Use it now or never. The U.S. president is chosen not by the nationwide popular vote but in state-by-state contests. That has made a handful of states whose voters are neither reliably Republican nor Democratic the focus of the November 6 election, expected to be one of the closest in U.S. history. Ohio and Florida are prominent among those, and no Republican has been elected president without winning Ohio. In a sign that Ohio looms large for the Romney campaign: a guest-filled rally in suburban Cincinnati is planned for Friday to kick off the campaign's final four days. Set to join Mr Romney and running mate Paul Ryan are golf legend Jack Nicklaus, ex-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Texas Governor Rick Perry and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Vice President Joe Biden planned to campaign today in Florida. Mr Ryan was scheduled to campaign in his home state, Wisconsin. Meanwhile, Democratic groups bitterly complained about a TV ad the Romney camp is running in the Toledo and Youngstown areas of Ohio. The ad suggests that Jeep will move its Toledo car-making facility to China, a claim Jeep executives deny. Democrats called the ad a brazen lie and a sign of desperation. Even some Republicans worried that Mr Romney has gone too far in a state where voters follow the auto industry closely. ‘It's the kind of thing that happens late in the campaign, when everybody's tired and you're not quite yourself,’ said GOP pollster and strategist Mike McKenna, who does not work for the Romney campaign. ‘It didn't help. But I don't think it's a big thing. At this point, everybody has made up their mind.’ ONE YEAR AGO: OBAMA AND CHRISTIE PICTURED TOURING DAMAGE CAUSED BY HURRICANE IRENE IN NEW JERSEYAll smiles: Political rivals Chris Christie (left) and Barack Obama (right) were pictured together last September after Hurricane Irene hit New Jersey Barack Obama and Chris Christie were memorably pictured together one year ago when the President toured damage caused by Hurricane Irene. They looked like best friends, sharing a warm embrace and laughing in New Jersey - with the meeting coming at a time when Governor Christie was under pressure to run for the Republican presidential nomination. Governor Christie won major plaudits for his authoritative command of preparations and the following clean-up after Irene, which hit last August. He made what became a famous quote, after his frustration came through after seeing people surfing on the beach in TV interviews. 'Get the hell off the beach,' he told surfers in a press conference that was replayed on news programmes around the US. Governor Christie announced last October that he would not run for president against Mitt Romney, after weeks of speculation that he might reverse his long-held stance of staying out of the 2012 race. 'This is not the time to leave unfinished business,' Governor Christie said at the time. 'New Jersey - whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me'. Surveying the damage: Governor Christie (left) won major plaudits for his authoritative command of preparations and the following clean-up in New Jersey after Irene
Storm surge laps at beachfront houses near Dewey Beach, Del., Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy grew stronger before dawn on Monday as it churned northward through the Atlantic Ocean en route to what forecasters agreed would be a devastating landfall, possibly within 100 miles of New York City. (Luke Sharrett/The New York Times) # Flood waters reach the corner of Canal St. and Hudson St. on October 29, 2012 in New York City. A large part of Manhatten below 26th St. has lost power reportedly because of flooding. (Photo by Preston Rescigno/Getty Images) # Bailey the dog is walked along the beach at Cape May, N.J., on Sunday. The computer models forecasting the track of Hurricane Sandy over the next three days are converging upon a landing around southern New Jersey that could create record coastal flooding and a big enough storm surge that state and local officials have ordered mandatory and voluntary evacuations along the coast from Delaware to Connecticut. (Jessica Kourkounis for The New York Times) # A man watches the waves in New York Harbor from Battery Park during the arrival of Hurricane Sandy on October 29, 2012 in New York City. The core of Sandy's force is supposed to hit the New York area Monday night. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images) # People walk across Beach Ave. as flood waters from Hurricane Sandy rush in on October 29, 2012 in Cape May, New Jersey. Later today the full force of Hurricane Sandy is expected to hit the New Jersey coastline bringing heavy winds and floodwaters. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) # A wave crashes on a pier at Coney Island Beach in New York, Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy grew stronger before dawn on Monday as it churned northward through the Atlantic Ocean en route to what forecasters agreed would be a devastating landfall, possibly within 100 miles of New York City. (Robert Stolarik/The New York Times) # A city truck drives through a flooded road in Lewes, Del., Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy grew stronger before dawn on Monday as it churned northward through the Atlantic Ocean en route to what forecasters agreed would be a devastating landfall, possibly within 100 miles of New York City. (Luke Sharrett/The New York Times) # A car drives down a flooded street in Broad Channel as Hurricane Sandy begins to affect the area on October 29, 2012 in the Queens borough of New York City. The storm, which threatens 50 million people in the eastern third of the U.S., is expected to bring days of rain, high winds and possibly heavy snow. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the closure of all New York City's bus, subway and commuter rail service as of Sunday evening. (Photo by Allison Joyce/Getty Images) # Storm watcher Sandy O'Connor, left, waits for waves to crash over her at Hampton Beach in Hampton, N.H., Oct. 29, 2012. The landfall of Hurricane Sandy, a storm that weather historians say is on a scale with little precedent along the East Coast, is expected to paralyze life for millions of people. (Cheryl Senter/The New York Times) # Waves crash along a wall near the Costa-Azzurra Restaurant in Milford, Conn., Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy grew stronger before dawn on Monday as it churned northward through the Atlantic Ocean en route to what forecasters agreed would be a devastating landfall, possibly within 100 miles of New York City. (Christopher Capozziello/The New York Times) # People walk past sandbags on a flooded street as Hurricane Sandy moves closer to the area on October 29, 2012 in the Red Hook section of the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The storm, which threatens 50 million people in the eastern third of the U.S., is expected to bring days of rain, high winds and possibly heavy snow. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the closure of all New York City will bus, subway and commuter rail service as of Sunday evening. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) # The Newark Liberty International Airport as Hurricane Sandy approaches in Newark, N.J., Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy grew stronger before dawn on Monday as it churned northward through the Atlantic Ocean en route to what forecasters agreed would be a devastating landfall, possibly within 100 miles of New York City. (Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times) # Streets are under water as Hurricane Sandy approaches October 29, 2012 in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Hurricane Sandy is expected to make landfall between Atlantic City and Cape May around 6p.m. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) # Hurricane Sandy erodes the shore on October 29, 2012 in Asbury Park, New Jersey. The storm, which threatens 50 million people in the eastern third of the U.S., is expected to bring days of rain, high winds and possibly heavy snow. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) # A flooded road in East Haven, Conn., Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy grew stronger before dawn on Monday as it churned northward through the Atlantic Ocean en route to what forecasters agreed would be a devastating landfall, possibly within 100 miles of New York City. (Christopher Capozziello/The New York Times) # A wave crashes onto a house before the arrival of Hurricane Sandy in Scituate, Massachusetts October 29, 2012. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi # Houses are seen flooded along Lighthouse Road in Scituate, Massachusetts October 29, 2012. The monster storm bearing down on the East Coast, strengthened on Monday after hundreds of thousands moved to higher ground. REUTERS/Scott Eisen # Trent Risley, 11, looks at power lines knocked down by Hurricane Sandy in Scituate, Massachusetts October 30, 2012. Millions of people across the eastern United States awoke on Tuesday to scenes of destruction wrought by monster storm Sandy, which knocked out power to huge swathes of the nation's most densely populated region, swamped New York's subway system and submerged streets in Manhattan's financial district. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi # Ocean waves kick up near homes along Peggoty Beach in Scituate, Mass. Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, as the storm forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) # A young boy runs along Rockaway Beach as Hurricane Sandy begins to affect the area on October 29, 2012 in the Queens borough of New York City. The storm, which threatens 50 million people in the eastern third of the U.S., is expected to bring days of rain, high winds and possibly heavy snow. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the closure of all New York City's bus, subway and commuter rail service as of Sunday evening. (Photo by Allison Joyce/Getty Images) # Waves pick up on the East River ahead of Hurricane Sandy on the east side of Manhattan on October 29, 2012 in New York City. Sandy, which has already claimed over 50 lives in the Caribbean is predicted to bring heavy winds and floodwaters to the mid-Atlantic region. (Photo by Michael Heiman/Getty Images) # People brave high winds and flooding while waves crash over the barriers along Winthrop Shore Drive as Hurricane Sandy comes up the coast on October 29, 2012 in Winthrop, Massachusetts. Hurricane Sandy, which threatens 50 million people in the eastern third of the U.S., is expected to bring days of rain, high winds and possibly heavy snow to a wide area on the U.S. East Coast. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images) # People brave high winds and waves along Winthrop Shore Drive as Hurricane Sandy comes up the coast on October 29, 2012 in Winthrop, Massachusetts. Hurricane Sandy, which threatens 50 million people in the eastern third of the U.S., is expected to bring days of rain, high winds and possibly heavy snow to a wide area on the U.S. East Coast. (Photo by Darren McCollester/Getty Images) # Firefighters look up at a partially-collapsed crane hanging from a residential tower under construction ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Sandy in New York, Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy grew stronger before dawn on Monday as it churned northward through the Atlantic Ocean en route to what forecasters agreed would be a devastating landfall, possibly within 100 miles of New York City. (Michael Appleton/The New York Times) # Fallen trees and power lines on a street in the Queens borough of New York, Oct. 29, 2012. The landfall of Hurricane Sandy, a storm that weather historians say is on a scale with little precedent along the East Coast, is expected to paralyze life for millions of people. (Uli Seit/The New York Times) # A fallen tree in Ridgewood, N.J., Oct. 29, 2012. The landfall of Hurricane Sandy, a storm that weather historians say is on a scale with little precedent along the East Coast, is expected to paralyze life for millions of people. (Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times) # Ocean Avenue is flooded caused by Hurricane Sandy, on October 29, 2012 in Cape May, The New Jersey coastline is feeling the full force of Sandy's heavy winds and record floodwaters. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) # A reporter broadcasts from a hotel balcony as massive breakers roll in on the beach behind him at Rehoboth Beach, Del., Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy churned through the Atlantic Ocean on Monday on the way to carving what forecasters agreed would be a devastating path on land that is expected to paralyze life for millions of people in more than a half-dozen states. (Luke Sharrett/The New York Times) # Waves crash on shore at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Boardwalk and Beach in the Staten Island borough of New York, Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy churned through the Atlantic Ocean on Monday on the way to carving what forecasters agreed would be a devastating path on land that is expected to paralyze life for millions of people in more than a half-dozen states. (Michael Kirby Smith/The New York Times) # People gathered near the Little Red Lighthouse at Jeffrey's Hook in Fort Washington Park in New York, Oct. 29, 2012. The landfall of Hurricane Sandy, a storm that weather historians say is on a scale with little precedent along the East Coast, is expected to paralyze life for millions of people. (Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times) # Waves crash on shore at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Boardwalk and Beach in the Staten Island borough of New York, Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy churned through the Atlantic Ocean on Monday on the way to carving what forecasters agreed would be a devastating path on land that is expected to paralyze life for millions of people in more than a half-dozen states. (Michael Kirby Smith/The New York Times) # A tree rests on Mike and Kelle Barry's home in Annapolis, Md., Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy churned through the Atlantic Ocean on Monday on the way to carving what forecasters agreed would be a devastating path on land that is expected to paralyze life for millions of people in more than a half-dozen states. (Matt Roth/The New York Times) # Fire fighters evaluate the scene of an apartment building which had the front wall collapse due to Hurricane Sandy on October 29, 2012 in New York, United States. Hurricane Sandy, which threatens 50 million people in the eastern third of the U.S., is expected to bring days of rain, high winds and possibly heavy snow. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the closure of all New York City will bus, subway and commuter rail service as of Sunday evening (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images) # Victor Concepcion stands on a trash can above floodwaters in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy churned through the Atlantic Ocean on Monday on the way to carving what forecasters agreed would be a devastating path on land that is expected to paralyze life for millions of people in more than a half-dozen states. (Kirsten Luce/The New York Times) # Power outage seen on October 29, 2012 in Manhattan, New York. Hurricane Sandy, which threatens 50 million people in the Mid-Atlantic area of the United States, is expected to bring days of rain, high winds and possibly heavy snow. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the closure of all New York City bus, subway and commuter rail services as of Sunday evening. (Photo by Allison Joyce/Getty Images) # A view of parts of Manhattan without power seen from a flooded area of waterfront in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Oct. 29, 2012. As Hurricane Sandy churned inland as a downgraded storm, residents up and down the battered mid-Atlantic region woke on Tuesday to lingering waters, darkened homes and the daunting task of cleaning up from storm surges and their devastating effects. (Robert Stolarik/The New York Times) # Water rushes into the Carey Tunnel (previously the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel), caused by Hurricane Sandy, October 29, 2012, in the Financial District of New York, United States. Hurricane Sandy, which threatens 50 million people in the eastern third of the U.S., is expected to bring days of rain, high winds and possibly heavy snow. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the closure of all New York City will bus, subway and commuter rail service as of Sunday evening (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images) # Vehicles sit submerged in flood waters outside a police precinct on Avenue C in the Manhattan borough of New York, Oct. 29, 2012. As Hurricane Sandy churned inland as a downgraded storm, residents up and down the battered mid-Atlantic region woke on Tuesday to lingering waters, darkened homes and the daunting task of cleaning up from storm surges and their devastating effects. (Michael Appleton/The New York Times) # Sections of an old boardwalk are seen destroyed by flooding from Hurricane Sandy on October 30, 2012 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The storm has claimed at least 16 lives in the United States, and has caused massive flooding across much of the Atlantic seaboard. US President Barack Obama has declared the situation a 'major disaster' for large areas of the US East Coast including New York City. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) # People come out to see the heavy surf that was caused by Hurricane Sandy, on October 30, 2012 in Cape May, New Jersey. The New Jersey coastline felt the full force of Sandy's heavy winds resulting in record floodwaters and power cuts as US President Barack Obama declared the situation a "major disaster" for large areas of the US East Coast including New York City. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) # Destroyed sections of an an old boardwalk are seen in an area that flooded by the beach on October 30, 2012 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The storm has claimed at least 16 lives in the United States, and has caused massive flooding across much of the Atlantic seaboard. US President Barack Obama has declared the situation a 'major disaster' for large areas of the US East Coast including New York City. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) # Resident Kim Johnson inspects the area around her apartment building which flooded and destroyed large sections of an old boardwalk, on October 30, 2012 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Johnson fled the area when the water began to rise yesterday. The storm has claimed at least 16 lives in the United States, and has caused massive flooding across much of the Atlantic seaboard. US President Barack Obama has declared the situation a 'major disaster' for large areas of the US East Coast including New York City. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) # A couple walks in the rain as a darkened Manhattan is viewed after much of the city lost electricity due to the affects of Hurricane Sandy on October 30, 2012 in New York, United States. At least 15 people were reported killed in the United States by Sandy as millions of people in the eastern United States have awoken to widespread power outages, flooded homes and downed trees. New York City was his especially hard with wide spread power outages and significant flooding in parts of the city. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) # A flooded street in the Dumbo section of Brooklyn is viewed after the city awakens to the affects of Hurricane Sandy on October 30, 2012 in New York, United States. At least 15 people were reported killed in the United States by Sandy as millions of people in the eastern United States have awoken to widespread power outages, flooded homes and downed trees. New York City was his especially hard with wide spread power outages and significant flooding in parts of the city. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) # Cars floating in a flooded subterranean basement following Hurricane Sandy on October 30, 2012 in the Financial District of New York, United States. The storm has claimed at least 16 lives in the United States, and has caused massive flooding across much of the Atlantic seaboard. US President Barack Obama has declared the situation a 'major disaster' for large areas of the US East Coast including New York City. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images) # A bicyclist stands in flood waters at a water taxi dock in New York, Oct. 30, 2012. As Hurricane Sandy churned inland as a downgraded storm, residents up and down the battered mid-Atlantic region woke on Tuesday to lingering waters, darkened homes and the daunting task of cleaning up from storm surges and their devastating effects. (Marcus Yam/The New York Times) # The Manhattan skyline is from the Central Park Reservoir the morning after Hurricane Sandy October 30, 2012 in New York City. The storm has claimed at least 16 lives in the United States, and has caused massive flooding across much of the Atlantic seaboard. US President Barack Obama has declared the situation a 'major disaster' for large areas of the US East Coast including New York City. (Photo by Michael Heiman/Getty Images) # A construction crane hangs off of the side of One57 (L), seen from Central Park on October 30, 2012 in New York City. The crane was blown loose from the residential construction project during Hurricane Sandy. The storm has claimed at least 16 lives in the United States, and has caused massive flooding across much of the Atlantic seaboard. US President Barack Obama has declared the situation a 'major disaster' for large areas of the US East Coast including New York City. (Photo by Michael Heiman/Getty Images) # Using two car lights and flash lights, a deli remained open for business as power was out in the neighborhood, at 1 a.m. at the corner of 2nd Avenue and East 9th Street, in the East Village neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York, Oct. 30, 2012. As Hurricane Sandy churned inland as a downgraded storm, residents up and down the battered mid-Atlantic region woke on Tuesday to lingering waters, darkened homes and the daunting task of cleaning up from storm surges and their devastating effects. (Chang W. Lee/The New York Times) # The aftermath of flooding following Hurricane Sandy on October 30, 2012 in the Financial District of New York, United States. The storm has claimed at least 16 lives in the United States, and has caused massive flooding across much of the Atlantic seaboard. US President Barack Obama has declared the situation a 'major disaster' for large areas of the US East Coast including New York City. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images) # A flooded Brooklyn Battery park Tunnel October 30, 2012 as New Yorkers clean up the morning after Hurricane Sandy's landfall. The death toll from super storm Sandy has risen to 16 in the mainland United States and Canada, and was expected to climb further as several people were still missing, officials said Tuesday. Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and North Carolina reported 15 dead from the massive storm system, and Toronto police said a Canadian woman was killed by flying debris. AFP PHOTO / TIMOTHY A. CLARYTIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images # This image provided by the US Coast Guard shows The HMS Bounty, a 180-foot sailboat, is shown submerged in the Atlantic Ocean during Hurricane Sandy, approximately 90 miles southeast of Hatteras, North Carolina, October 29, 2012. Of the 16-person crew, the Coast Guard rescued 14, recovered a woman and is searching for the captain of the vessel. The crew abandoned the 55-meter (180-foot) three-mast ship, built in 1960 for the film "Mutiny on the Bounty" starring Marlon Brando that came out two years later, before it sank in the fierce seas, its owner said. This voyage, with the ship's permanent, paid crew, left from Connecticut last week and had been due to arrive in Florida on November 10. The ship was off the coast of North Carolina when it radioed in a distress call October 28. AFP PHOTO / Petty Officer 2nd Class Tim Kuklewski-US COAST GUARD # A sailboat smashes on the rocks after breaking free from its mooring on City Island October 29, 2012 in New York. Hurricane Sandy's winds picked up speed as the storm made a left turn toward the East Coast. AFP PHOTO/DON EMMERT # People walk on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland, on October 29, 2012 as Hurricane Sandy nears landfall in the area. AFP PHOTO/Jim WATSON # People walk through water on the beach near the time of high tide as Hurricane Sandy approaches October 29, 2012 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Hurricane Sandy drove a deadly tidal surge into coastal cities along the eastern US coast and pushed storm-force winds, torrential rain and heavy snow deep inland. AFP PHOTO/Stan HONDA # In this handout GOES satellite image provided by NASA, Hurricane Sandy, pictured at 1255 UTC, moves inland across the mid-Atlantic region on October 30, 2012 in the Atlantic Ocean. The storm has claimed at least 16 lives in the United States, and has caused massive flooding across much of the Atlantic seaboard. US President Barack Obama has declared the situation a 'major disaster' for large areas of the US East Coast including New York City. (Photo by NASA via Getty Images) # This CCTV photo released by the official Twitter feed of The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey shows flood waters from Hurricane Sandy rushing in to the Hoboken PATH station through an elevator shaft on October 29, 2012 in Hoboken, New Jersey. Monster storm Sandy swept a wall of churning sea water and driving rain onto the eastern United States, flooding major cities and leaving death and chaos in its wake. AFP PHOTO / The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey # Water floods a street in October 30, 2012 in lower Manhattan, New York. The storm has claimed at least 16 lives in the United States, and has caused massive flooding across much of the Atlantic seaboard. US President Barack Obama has declared the situation a 'major disaster' for large areas of the US East Coast including New York City. (Photo by Allison Joyce/Getty Images) # Water floods the Plaza Shops in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, on October 30, 2012 in Manhattan, New York.The storm has claimed at least 16 lives in the United States, and has caused massive flooding across much of the Atlantic seaboard. US President Barack Obama has declared the situation a 'major disaster' for large areas of the US East Coast including New York City. (Photo by Allison Joyce/Getty Images) # Heavy surf caused by Hurricane Sandy buckles Ocean Ave on October 30, 2012 in Avalon, New Jersey. The storm has claimed at least 16 lives in the United States, and has caused massive flooding across much of the Atlantic seaboard. US President Barack Obama has declared the situation a 'major disaster' for large areas of the US East Coast including New York City, with wide spread power outages and significant flooding in parts of the city. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) # The Brooklyn Battery Tunnel is flooded after a tidal surge caused by Hurricane Sandy, on October 30, 2012 in Manhattan, New York. The storm has claimed at least 16 lives in the United States, and has caused massive flooding across much of the Atlantic seaboard. US President Barack Obama has declared the situation a 'major disaster' for large areas of the US East Coast including New York City, with wide spread power outages and significant flooding in parts of the city. (Photo by Allison Joyce/Getty Images) # People look at destruction in South Street Seaport October 30, 2012 as New Yorkers clean up the morning after Hurricane Sandy made landfall. The storm left large parts of New York City without power and transportation. The death toll from super storm Sandy has risen to 16 in the mainland United States and Canada, and was expected to climb further as several people were still missing, officials said Tuesday. Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and North Carolina reported 15 dead from the massive storm system, and Toronto police said a Canadian woman was killed by flying debris. AFP PHOTO / TIMOTHY A. CLARY # A fallen tree which damaged a house is seen across a sidewalk in the wake of Hurricane Sandy on October 30, 2012 in the northwest of Washington. At least 13 people were killed in the United States and Canada as the storm roared ashore late Monday, pounding several major cities with heavy rain and hurricane-force winds that toppled trees and ripped down power lines. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN # The Battery Park Underpass submerged by floodwaters in New York, Oct. 30, 2012. As Hurricane Sandy churned inland as a downgraded storm, residents up and down the battered mid-Atlantic region woke on Tuesday to lingering waters, darkened homes and the daunting task of cleaning up from storm surges and their devastating effects. (Michael Appleton/The New York Times) # Members of a New York Police Department tactical team rescue Haley Rombi, 3, in the Dongon Hills neighborhood of the Staten Island borough of New York, Oct. 30, 2012. As Hurricane Sandy churned inland as a downgraded storm, residents up and down the battered mid-Atlantic region woke on Tuesday to lingering waters, darkened homes and the daunting task of cleaning up from storm surges and their devastating effects. (Michael Kirby Smith/The New York Times) # Members of the New York Police Department survey flooding in the Whitehall Street subway station in the Manhattan borough of New York, Oct. 30, 2012. Hurricane Sandy moved inland Tuesday after grinding life to a halt for millions of people in more than a half-dozen states, leaving behind the daunting task of cleaning up. (Damon Winter/The New York Times) #
President Obama comforted tearful residents today when he visited a stretch of the New Jersey coast devastated by Superstorm Sandy, seeing for himself how the disaster has wrecked buildings and forced thousands to abandon their flooded homes. The President revised his election campaigning plans and travelled to Atlantic City to get an aerial view of the widespread damage caused by the storm. He was joined on the presidential helicopter, Marine One, for the one-hour tour by Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who has put partisan politics aside in the wake of the disaster. Scroll down for videosReassurance: President Barack Obama (left) hugs marine owner Donna Vanzant (right) during a tour of Brigantine, New Jersey, which was badly affected by Sandy Aerial view: The President saw how homes in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, have become surrounded by water after Superstorm Sandy lashed the Atlantic Coast Ripped apart: During the helicopter tour, the President was shown how Superstorm Sandy tore away part of the Mantoloking Bridge in New Jersey Up in the air: The Marine One helicopter, carrying President Obama and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, takes an aerial tour of the Atlantic Coast in New Jersey 'I want to let you know that your governor is working overtime,' Obama told victims at an emergency shelter after the tour. 'The entire country has been watching what's been happening. Everybody knows how hard Jersey has been hit.' Christie said: 'It's really important to have the president of the United States here.' Obama returned the compliment. The politicians' meeting came as people in the heavily populated US East Coast corridor battered by Sandy took the first cautious steps to reclaim their upended daily routines, even as rescuers combed neighbourhoods strewn with debris and scarred by floods and fire. By Tuesday night, the winds and flooding inflicted by the fast-weakening Sandy had subsided, leaving at least 55 people dead along the Atlantic Coast and splintering beachfront homes and boardwalks from the mid-Atlantic states to southern New England. The storm later moved across Pennsylvania on a predicted path toward western New York State and Canada. At the height of the disaster, more than 8.2 million customers lost electricity - some as far away as Michigan. Nearly a quarter of those without power were in New York, where lower Manhattan's usually bright lights remained dark for a second night. Christie, who is a vocal supporter of GOP nominee Mitt Romney, has changed his partisan tune after the storm, regularly singing Obama’s praises in relation to the federal aid given toward disaster relief support. ‘The president has been outstanding in this and so have the folks at FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency),’ Christie told the Today Show on Tuesday. Christie later told news anchor Soledad O’Brien that Obama ‘has been incredibly supportive and helpful to our state, and not once did he bring up the election.’ Christie continued his new tact of effusively praising President Obama and the work that the federal government is doing in response to the hurricane, saying that the two spent a ‘significant’ afternoon together touring the Jersey Shore in Marine One. ‘I cannot thank the president enough for his concern,’ Christie said at the 5pm press conference. ‘The president has been all over this and he deserves great credit.’ The governor said that the two have put their partisan differences aside and had spoken six times including their afternoon-long trip today. ‘It has been a great working relationship to make sure that we are doing the jobs that the people elected us to do,’ Christie said of Obama. ‘I am pleased to report that he has sprung into action immediately while we were in the car together.’ The President was slightly more reserved with his praise, as he kept the majority of his remarks focused on the efforts of FEMA and ways for those who lost homes from the storm rather than his political rival. ‘Governor Christie has been responsive aggressive, making sure the state got out in front of this incredible storm,’ Obama said. During his introduction, Christie, known for his brash demeanor, said that he forgave residents of Brigantine for not following his order to ‘get the hell out’ before the storm hit Monday night. (He jokingly said ‘you’re forgiven this time.’) Obama made a reference to the colorful language, turning back to give the Governor a smile during the remark.The President pledged to streamline the federal funding process, explaining that he has instituted a so-called 15 minute rule for his team, meaning that if a mayor, state politician, or governor calls them, they have to respond with firm answers in a matter of minutes. ‘We are not going to tolerate red tape,’ he said. ‘When you see neighbors helping neighbors you’re reminded of what America’s all about. ‘We’re going to have a ton of work to do. I don’t want anyone thinking that this will be cleaned up overnight. We want to make sure people have realistic expectations. Support: President Obama holds North Point Marina owner Donna Vanzant close as he tours damage done by Superstorm Sandy in Brigantine, New Jersey. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (left) stands with them Walkabout: President Barack Obama talks to a resident as he tours a neighborhood effected by Superstorm Sandy in Brigantine, New Jersey Walking with with him are two Democrat senators, Frank Lautenberg and Bob Menendez Tour over: President Obama waves as he follows Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Craig Fugate on to Air Force One at Atlantic City International Airport at the end of his visit to New Jersey Shopping carts full of food damaged by Storm Sandy await disposal at the Fairway supermarket in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn in New York Jackie Hoey inspects the first floor of her home which experienced heavy flooding due to Hurricane Sandy in Long Beach, New York Gary Silberman surveys his home that was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in Lindenhurst, New York Engulfed: A collapsed house along the central Jersey Shore coast What Obama saw: This aerial photograph of storm damage in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, was taken from a helicopter travelling behind Marine One Aftermath: Another view of the damage to Seaside Heights, New Jersey, taken from a helicopter travelling behind the aircraft carrying President Obama Bearing the brunt: The President took the helicopter tour to see for himself how homes in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, were destroyed in the storm Battered: The President was shown the damage to this amusement park at Seaside Heights, New Jersey, as he toured the area by helicopter Lifted: A row of beach homes rest off their foundations after Superstorm Sandy came ashore near Asbury Park, New Jersey Topsy-turvy: Part of a home rests upside-down in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, one of the areas worst affected by Superstorm Sandy Broken in two: Another view of the top of a house which was torn apart when Superstorm Sandy struck Seaside Heights, New Jersey. The rest of the property was found some way away from its original spot, sitting in the middle of a street Chaotic: Streets in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, are covered with fallen power lines and debris following heavy damage by Superstorm Sandy Major problem: Emergency workers attend homes heavily damaged by Superstorm Sandy in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. A van is stuck under debris in the foreground Electioneering: The name 'Romney' is spelled out in sand during an aerial tour of the Atlantic Coast being taken by President Obama and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie Crossing the political divide: Barack Obama comforts the New Jersey's Republican Governor Chris Christie, a Mitt Romney supporter who has sung the President's praises since Superstorm Sandy struck Tour: Barack Obama is greeted by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie as he arrives in Atlantic City to inspect damage caused by Superstorm Sandy Joint effort: The President was joined by Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Craig Fugate (right) as he met the Republican New Jersey Governor (left), who has put party politics aside after the storm caused widespread damage Visit: President Obama, flanked by Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Craig Fugate (right) and New Jersey governor Chris Christie (left) prepare to take an aerial tour of the Atlantic Coast to view areas damaged by Superstorm Sandy Political gamble: Rather than using the election campaign's final Wednesday to woo voters in swing states, the President flew to New Jersey to see the devastation On his way: The shadow of Air Force One is seen as it approaches Atlantic City International Airport before the President's helicopter tour of the devastated region ‘We will not quit… We don’t leave anybody behind.’ New Jersey was one of the hardest-hit in Monday night’s storm, and power outages in the state’s two biggest cities - Newark and Jersey City - have prevented progress, as traffic lights remain out of action. The visit came after the President’s second visit to FEMA headquarters for an update on federal progress. Obama took a motorcade to FEMA's offices in D.C. to meet with agency chiefs before the flight to Atlantic City to meet with Sandy's victims and relief workers. 'This is a tough time for millions of people. But America is tougher' US President Barack Obama Days before the election, the President has kept up a steady public presence overseeing the storm response, while cancelling a series of public campaign rallies. It was Obama's second visit in four days with the agency. On Sunday, he met FEMA officials, then told reporters the government will ‘respond big and respond fast’ after the massive storm made landfall. The President also paid a visit to the headquarters of the Red Cross on Tuesday, saying he wanted ‘no bureaucracy, no red tape’ to interfere with recovery, and suggested the military might be able to help in view of the enormity of the damage. ‘This is a tough time for millions of people ... But America is tougher,’ he said. The speed of their response has prompted criticism from Michael ‘heckuva job’ Brown, the former FEMA director who was roundly criticized for the agency’s response to the devastation from Hurricane Katrina. ‘One thing (President Obama’s) gonna be asked is, why did he jump on (Sandy) so quickly and go back to D.C. so quickly when (after) Benghazi, he went to Las Vegas? Why was this so quick?’ Brown told a Denver news station. Destroyed: An aerial view of the Breezy Point neighbourhood in New York, where more than 50 homes were burned to the ground as a result of Superstorm Sandy Burned down: Residents living in the beachfront neighbourhood at Breezy Point, New York, were told to evacuate as Superstorm Sandy approached. When they returned, dozens of homes were gone Cloud of smoke: Debris smoulders as residents of Breezy Point in the Queens borough of New York assess the damage caused by a fire during Superstorm Sandy Nothing left: Tom Duffy (left) and his family look through the debris of his home which was destroyed in the fire Fire damage: Neighbors Lucille Dwyer (right) and Linda Strong (left) embrace after looking through the wreckage of their homes in Breezy Point, Queens, New York Distraught: A woman stares at the ground as she walks past damaged homes after the fire at Breezy Point in the Queens borough of New York Surveying the destruction: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (centre) views storm damage in the Breezy Point area of Queens after fire destroyed homes Exposed: This home in the Sea Gatee area of Brooklyn, New York, had one of its walls and part of its roof ripped off by the force of Superstorm Sandy Emptied: Residents take belongings out of a home in Sea Gate part of Brooklyn, New York, that was condemned after being damaged during Superstorm Sandy Meaningful: A damaged home in the Sea Gate part of Brooklyn, New York, bears the sign: 'The most important things in life... aren't things' After tamping down his partisan tone on Tuesday at an Ohio event that emphasised victims' relief, Mr Romney planned three full-blown campaign rallies today in Florida, the largest competitive state. Sandy largely spared Florida, so Mr Romney calculates he can campaign there without appearing callous. But President Obama’s revised schedule is also a political gamble. Rather than use the campaign's final Wednesday to woo voters in the tossup states that will decide the election, Obama decided to go before cameras with Christie. When Governor Christie stopped in Belmar, New Jersey, during a tour of the devastation, one woman wept openly and 42-year-old Walter Patrickis told him: ‘Governor, I lost everything.' Governor Christie, who called the shore damage‘unthinkable,’ said a full recovery would take months and it would likely be a week or more before power is restored to everyone who lost it. Water ride: John Okeefe walks on the beach as the rollercoaster that once sat on the Funtown Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, rests in the ocean No play: This US Air Force photo shows an aerial view of the rollercoaster from the Seaside Heights amusement park on the New Jersey shore submerged in surf Mangled: The rollercoaster was severely damaged as Superstorm Sandy destroyed the boardwalk and pier in Seaside Park, New Jersey Pet rescue: Olivia Loesner, 16, hugs her uncle, Deputy Fire Chief John Ruff, after she was brought from her flooded home in a boat in Little Ferry, New Jersey, Her mother, Janice Loesner, carries their dogs to safety in a basket Huge task: Workers try to clear boats and debris from the New Jersey Transit Morgan draw bridge in South Amboy, New Jersey, after the storm surge pushed them on to the train tracks ‘Now we've got a big task ahead of us that we have to do together. This is the kind of thing New Jerseyans are built for,’ he added. Governor Christie had said that he would ask the President to assign the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to start working on how to rebuild beaches and find ‘the best way to rebuild the beach to protect these towns’. President Obama cancelled his campaign appearances up to today but is staying in the public eye as commander of federal relief efforts. ‘This is a tough time for millions of people,’ the President said. ‘But America is tougher.’ Obama campaign senior adviser David Axelrod said today that the President intends to resume campaigning on Thursday. Campaign officials say the President will make stops in Green Bay, Wisconsin; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Boulder, Colorado. President Obama’s last campaign event was last Saturday in New Hampshire. He flew to Orlando on Sunday to attend a campaign rally on Monday with former President Bill Clinton but scrapped his campaign plans to return to Washington D.C. to monitor preparations for Superstorm Sandy. Mr Romney wavered in his strategy. First the campaign said he would skip a rally in Ohio on Tuesday out of sympathy for the storm victims. Then Mr Romney decided to do the event but recast it as a storm-relief effort, shorn of the usual campaign speech. Clean-up: Sanitation workers clear sand from streets in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn, New York Wheels of misfortune: A BMW car was washed up on to a bench when Superstorm Sandy struck the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn, New York Unusual picture: A woman takes a photograph of the car in the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn, New York Crushed: Freddie Nocella, Jr, looks at his grandfather's damaged Trans Am as he helps to salvage belongings from his grandparents' heavily damaged home in Babylon Village, New York Unbelievable: A woman looks at damage in the Rockaway neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, where the historic boardwalk was washed away during Superstorm Sandy Stuck: A car is pictured on Wednesday, partially buried by sand that was washed ashore by Superstorm Sandy in Atlantic City, New Jersey All that's left: The foundations to the historic Rockaway boardwalk are all that remain after it was washed away during Superstorm Sandy in Brooklyn, New York Snap: A man takes a picture of a woman in front of a crumbled public bathroom following Superstorm Sandy, on Tuesday in Belmar, New Jersey Wrecked: A closer look at the collapsed properties in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, which President viewed from the air ‘It's part of the American spirit, the American way, to give to people in need,’ Mr Romney said in Kettering, Ohio, before supporters lined up to hand him bags of canned food for storm victims. Adding to Mr Romney's dilemma are the candidate's previous statements on the federal government's role in emergency management. He said he believes state and local governments should have primary responsibility for emergency clean-up. Mr Romney refused yesterday to answer repeated questions from reporters about what he would do with the Federal Emergency Management Agency if he wins the election. 'A Romney-Ryan administration will always ensure that disaster funding is there for those in need. Period' Spokesman for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney Asked about federal aid to help recover and rebuild from Sandy, a spokesman said: ‘A Romney-Ryan administration will always ensure that disaster funding is there for those in need. Period.’ For President Obama, missing a few days of active campaigning for vital presidential duties may be a good trade, politically speaking. Lingering anger about President George W. Bush's performance when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005 could provide a backdrop to benefit President Obama if he does a solid job. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, of the University of Pennsylvania, said a natural disaster gives a president ‘unlimited access to the media to say things the public wants and needs to hear in a fashion that reinforces that he is president.’ For President Obama, the federal response to the natural disaster could make or break his bid for a second term. His reputation could suffer if the federal government's response is feeble or botched. Scenes from New Jersey: A man carries his wife through the floodwaters in Hoboken (left), and cars and vans are buried in sand on Long Beach Island (right) Unusual pile-up: An aerial photograph shows boats lying next to a house near Monmouth Beach, New Jersey, where they were washed ashore during Superstorm Sandy Resting place: A wider view shows dozens of damaged boats piled up by the house next to a marina close to Monmouth Beach, New Jersey On fire: This photo from the New Jersey Governor's Office shows damage north of Seaside, New Jersey, on Tuesday after Superstorm Sandy made landfall Severe damage: This picture provided by the US Coast Guard shows property damages along the New Jersey coast caused by Hurricane Sandy on Tuesday Underwater: This picture provided shows flooded homes in Tuckerton, New Jersey, after Superstorm Sandy made landfall on the southern New Jersey coastline Flooding: A portion of Harvey Cedars on Long Beach Island, New Jersey was underwater after Superstorm Sandy blew across the state with devastating results BEFORE AND AFTER: THE DEVASTATING IMPACT OF SUPERSTORM SANDY ON ATLANTIC CITY'S HOLIDAY HOMESThese startling before-and-after pictures reveal what is left of parts of the East Coast. Just one solitary house was left standing on the east side of New Jersey's Mantoloking Bridge in Brick. Rows of Atlantic holiday homes were wiped out by the 900-mile storm with its surging waters and winds of 95mph. How it was: This image from Google Maps shows Mantoloking Bridge in Brick, New Jersey, before the devastation was caused by Superstorm Sandy. All but one of the houses in the highlighted area above were destroyed in the storm. The only one to still be standing is circled above Severe destruction: An aerial view from Greenpeace taken by Tim Aubry of the damage caused by Superstorm Sandy along the New Jersey coast in Brick Shock: Brian Hajeski, 41, of Brick, New Jersey, reacts as he looks at debris of a home that washed up on to the Mantoloking Bridge the morning after Superstorm Sandy Contenders: US President Barack Obama (left) talks about damage done by Hurricane Sandy and rescue efforts while at the National Red Cross HQ in Washington D.C. on Tuesday; while Republican candidate Mitt Romney loads relief supplies for people affected by Hurricane Sandy into a truck at a relief campaign event in Kettering, Ohio Speech: President Obama talks during his visit to the Disaster Operation Center of the Red Cross National HQ to discuss Superstorm Sandy on Tuesday Talks: President Barack Obama visits the FEMA headquarters following Hurricane Sandy in Washington D.C. on Wednesday. Pictured with President Obama are (from second left to right) Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan From above: In this National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration image, the remnants of Tropical Sandy move across eastern America on Wednesday Gone: A boardwalk (left) and waterfront property are heavily damaged following Superstorm Sandy, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Wednesday Uprooted: This picture provided by the US Coast Guard shows property damage along the New Jersey coast caused by Hurricane Sandy on Tuesday Changed landscape This photo from the New Jersey Governor's Office shows flooding on the bay side of Seaside, New Jersey, on Tuesday after Sandy made landfall Just still there: The damage caused by Hurricane Sandy to the New Jersey coast, in a photo taken during a search and rescue mission Extraordinary: Sand and debris covers the streets near the water in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Tuesday, after the area was wrecked by Superstorm Sandy Complete devastation: A lone piece of colour in a children's playground is pictured surrounded by sand and debris near the ocean in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Tuesday Rubble: A toy truck sits among the post-Superstorm Sandy destruction on Tuesday in the devastated Atlantic City in New Jersey Rebuild project: A man in a hooded jacket and jeans walks past debris left by the floodwater from Superstorm Sandy on Tuesday in Hoboken, New Jersey No sales: A small shop that rents personal water craft rests in a huge sinkhole on the bayside in Ocean City, New Jersey, on Tuesday, after a storm surge On the rails: This photograph, provided by the state of New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, shows a boat resting on the tracks at Metro-North's Ossining Station in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy Smashed: Captain Charles Bodien, Jr, posts a condemned sign on a summer camp at Webster Lake in Franklin, New Hampshire, after a tree crashed down on it Destitute: In this U.S. Coast Guard photo, a helicopter crew from Air Station Cape Cod, Massachusetts, observe property damage in New Jersey caused by Sandy Misery on the beachfront: This aerial photograph provided by the U.S. Air Force shows how the storm left homes on the New Jersey shoreline surrounded by water What to do? Zelphia Connor stands outside her garage in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Wednesday, damaged by pieces of the boardwalk that Superstorm Sandy broke Still moving: A vehicle drives on a flooded street in Little Ferry, New Jersey, on Tuesday, after Superstorm Sandy made landfall on Monday evening Sea crash: Boats clustered together at a marina in Brant Beach, on Long Beach Island on the New Jersey shore on Tuesday, a day after Superstorm Sandy blew across Devastation: A beachfront home is gutted in Manasquan, New Jersey, following the dramatic storm which caused havoc across the US East Coast No Halloween: This photo taken on Tuesday shows a store with 'Boo Sandy' and 'Trick or Treat?' writing on wooden boards in Atlantic City, New Jersey Wreckage: The remains of a boardwalk and other debris is washed ashore following Superstorm Sandy, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Monday Aid: Bill Johnson is helped by a friend to remove one of his kayaks from a pile of debris in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Tuesday Ruined: People walk past debris in the area where a 2,000ft section of the boardwalk was destroyed, with the Showboat Casino in the background in Atlantic City Shock: People stand on a mound of construction dirt to view the area where a 2,000ft section of the boardwalk was destroyed by flooding in Atlantic City, New Jersey Smashed up: The damaged front of an auto repair shop on Atlantic Avenue is seen in the aftermath of Sandy's landfall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Tuesday Collapse: Beach houses are left destroyed in the Bell Harbor community after Sandy inundated the Rockaway Peninsular in the borough of Queens, New York Response: Firefighters try to put out blazes at Breezy Point on Tuesday in Queens, New York. A fire broke out in the flooded community late on Monday night Pointing: Two men look at damage in the Breezy Point area of Queens, New York, on Tuesday after fire destroyed about 80 homes as a result of Superstorm Sandy Taking cover: The scene at 130th St and Newport Ave in Rockaway, Queens, New York, where many houses were burned down after Superstorm Sandy hit the area Destruction: A beach house is left destroyed in the Bell Harbor community after Superstorm Sandy inundated the Rockaway Peninsular in Queens, New York Little left: Beachfront properties in Rockaway, Queens, New York, where many houses were destroyed after Superstorm Sandy hit the area Throught the wreckage: After Superstorm Sandy hit New York, extensive damage and flooding was apparent throughout the city. Breezy Point in Queens is pictured Not moving: Lucy the Elephant is still standing, seemingly unscathed on Tuesday after Superstorm Sandy blew across the area along New Jersey shore While President Obama and Mr Romney moved cautiously yesterday, their campaigns exchanged sharp words in Ohio and expanded their operations into three Democratic-leaning states. Mr Romney's campaign is running ads in Minnesota and Pennsylvania, and a pro-Romney group is doing the same in Michigan. The three states were considered fairly safe for President Obama, but his campaign is taking the threat seriously. It sent former President Bill Clinton to Minnesota yesterday and it is buying airtime in all three states. Support: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is a prominent supporter of Mr Romney and a frequent critic of the President The Republican efforts could indicate that Mr Romney is desperately searching for a last-minute path to victory without all-important Ohio, where polls show President Obama has a slight edge. Or it could mean just the opposite, that Mr Romney's so confident in the most competitive battlegrounds that he's pressing for insurance against President Obama in what's expected to be a close race. Or perhaps the Republican simply has money to burn. Use it now or never. The U.S. president is chosen not by the nationwide popular vote but in state-by-state contests. That has made a handful of states whose voters are neither reliably Republican nor Democratic the focus of the November 6 election, expected to be one of the closest in U.S. history. Ohio and Florida are prominent among those, and no Republican has been elected president without winning Ohio. In a sign that Ohio looms large for the Romney campaign: a guest-filled rally in suburban Cincinnati is planned for Friday to kick off the campaign's final four days. Set to join Mr Romney and running mate Paul Ryan are golf legend Jack Nicklaus, ex-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Texas Governor Rick Perry and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Vice President Joe Biden planned to campaign today in Florida. Mr Ryan was scheduled to campaign in his home state, Wisconsin. Meanwhile, Democratic groups bitterly complained about a TV ad the Romney camp is running in the Toledo and Youngstown areas of Ohio. The ad suggests that Jeep will move its Toledo car-making facility to China, a claim Jeep executives deny. Democrats called the ad a brazen lie and a sign of desperation. Even some Republicans worried that Mr Romney has gone too far in a state where voters follow the auto industry closely. ‘It's the kind of thing that happens late in the campaign, when everybody's tired and you're not quite yourself,’ said GOP pollster and strategist Mike McKenna, who does not work for the Romney campaign. ‘It didn't help. But I don't think it's a big thing. At this point, everybody has made up their mind.’ ONE YEAR AGO: OBAMA AND CHRISTIE PICTURED TOURING DAMAGE CAUSED BY HURRICANE IRENE IN NEW JERSEYAll smiles: Political rivals Chris Christie (left) and Barack Obama (right) were pictured together last September after Hurricane Irene hit New Jersey Barack Obama and Chris Christie were memorably pictured together one year ago when the President toured damage caused by Hurricane Irene. They looked like best friends, sharing a warm embrace and laughing in New Jersey - with the meeting coming at a time when Governor Christie was under pressure to run for the Republican presidential nomination. Governor Christie won major plaudits for his authoritative command of preparations and the following clean-up after Irene, which hit last August. He made what became a famous quote, after his frustration came through after seeing people surfing on the beach in TV interviews. 'Get the hell off the beach,' he told surfers in a press conference that was replayed on news programmes around the US. Governor Christie announced last October that he would not run for president against Mitt Romney, after weeks of speculation that he might reverse his long-held stance of staying out of the 2012 race. 'This is not the time to leave unfinished business,' Governor Christie said at the time. 'New Jersey - whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me'. Surveying the damage: Governor Christie (left) won major plaudits for his authoritative command of preparations and the following clean-up in New Jersey after Irene
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As the remnants of Hurricane Sandy dissipate over northern Canada, the full scale of the damage left in her wake is becoming apparent. At least 56 people in the U.S. were killed and another 67 in the Caribbean. Cost estimates have ranged as high as $60 billion so far. More than 4 million people remain without power, as crews from across the country converge on the Northeast to restore electricity. Hard-hit sections of New York and New Jersey have begun cleanup, with some restoration of transit and services. The morning commute into Manhattan today was chaotic, as many New Yorkers attempted to return to work by car -- many were turned back due to an order that inbound cars carry at least three people. Collected here are images of Sandy's trail of destruction in New York and New Jersey.
Joseph Leader, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Vice President and Chief Maintenance Officer, walks around massive fallen beams and other debris in the hurricane-damaged South Ferry 1 train station in New York, on October 31, 2012. Huge amounts of debris and as much as 20 feet of water filled the station and tunnel. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle) 
An image of New York City's blackout, taken from a rooftop in Chelsea, on October 29, 2012. (© Eric Chang [@EricStrange]) # 
A shopper enters Garden of Eden Gourmet which opened without power in Hoboken, New Jersey, on October 31, 2012.(Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images) # 
Homes, flooded after Hurricane Sandy made landfall on the southern New Jersey coastline, on October 30, 2012 in Tuckerton, New Jersey.(U.S. Coast Guard via Getty Images) # 
Robert Bryce walks with his wife, Marcia Bryce, through destruction from superstorm Sandy on Route 35 in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, on October 31, 2012. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) # 
A sheen caused by spilled fuel shines on water left in a street by the storm surge of Hurricane Sandy in Lindenhurst, New York, on October 31, 2012. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) # 
Homes, surrounded by sand washed in by Hurricane Sandy in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, on October 31, 2012.(Mario Tama/Getty Images) # 
Several feet of sand covers Tradewinds Lane after being deposited there by Hurricane Sandy in Sea Bright, New Jersey, on October 31, 2012. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) # 
A view of a football field littered with debris after water receded in Hoboken, New Jersey, on October 31, 2012. (Reuters/Adrees Latif) # 
People walk by a destroyed section of the Rockaway boardwalk in the heavily damaged Rockaway section of Queens after the historic boardwalk was washed away during Hurricane Sandy, on October 31, 2012 in the Queens borough of New York City.(Spencer Platt/Getty Images) # 
John Shammah, a Con Edison employee, pauses while working on a steam pipe on First Avenue in New York City, on October 31, 2012.(Andrew Burton/Getty Images) # 
Men dispose of shopping carts full of food damaged by Hurricane Sandy at the Fairway supermarket in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn in New York, on October 31, 2012. The food was contaminated by flood waters that rose to approximately four feet in the store during the storm. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) # 
A pedestrian surveys fallen trees on top of parked cars in Queens, New York, on October 30, 2012. (Reuters/Gil Cohen Magen) # 
Joseph Leader, Metropolitan Tranportation Authority Vice President and Chief Maintenance Officer, shines a flashlight on standing water inside the South Ferry 1 train station in New York, on October 31, 2012. The floodwaters that poured into New York's deepest subway tunnels may pose the biggest obstacle to the city's recovery from the worst natural disaster in the transit system's 108-year history.(AP Photo/Craig Ruttle) # 
The remains of homes and businesses burned down during Hurricane Sandy in the Rockaway neighborhood of Queens, still smoldering on October 31, 2012. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) # 
Burnt houses side-by-side with others that survived in Breezy Point, Queens, after it was devastated by Hurricane Sandy, on October 31, 2012. (Reuters/Adrees Latif) # 
The remains of burned homes in the Breezy Point neighborhood of Queens, with the Manhattan skyline in the distance after Superstorm Sandy, on October 31, 2012. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) # 
People embrace after looking through the wreckage of homes devastated by fire and the effects of Hurricane Sandy in Breezy Point, on October 31, 2012. (Reuters/Shannon Stapleton) # 
An aerial photo shows the John B. Caddell, a 700-ton water tanker, grounded in New York, on October 31, 2012. The 167-foot tanker ran aground Monday night from the storm surge caused by Hurricane Sandy. (Reuters/Adrees Latif) # 
A runway at the Teterboro Airport is flooded in the wake of superstorm Sandy in New Jersey, on October 30, 2012.(AP Photo/Mike Groll) # 
People affected by the power outages from Hurricane Sandy wait in a 2hr line at a gas station to purchase fuel for generators in Madison Park, New Jersey, on October 31, 2012. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) # 
A car from a kiddie ride from the Seaside Heights boardwalk lies half buried in the sand of Mantoloking, New Jersey, on Wednesday, October 31, 2012. The car was carried at least 8 miles by the ocean from the amusement pier that was destroyed in superstorm Sandy. Most of the multimillion-dollar homes along this old-money stretch of the Jersey shore were seriously damaged by pounding surf, wild wind and, in some cases, fire from ruptured gas lines. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry) # 
Damage to an amusement park left in the wake of superstorm Sandy in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, on October 31, 2012.(AP Photo/Mike Groll) # 
John Okeefe walks on the beach in front of a damaged rollercoaster that once sat on the Funtown Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, on October 31, 2012. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) # 
Robert Bryce sets up a U.S. flag he pulled from rubble while walking on Route 35 in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, on October 31, 2012.(AP Photo/Julio Cortez) # 
Destroyed homes left in the wake of superstorm Sandy in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, on October 31, 2012. (AP Photo/Mike Groll) # 
Floodwater from Superstorm Sandy is pumped into the ocean from the beach on October 31, 2012 in Seaside Heights, New Jersey.(Mario Tama/Getty Images) # 
Storm damage over the Atlantic Coast, seen from a helicopter behind Marine One with US President Barack Obama and Governor Christie as they view the hurricane damage in New Jersey, on October 31, 2012. (Doug Mills/AFP/Getty Images) # 
Smoking ruins, seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, on October 31, 2012. (Reuters/Doug Mills) # 
A dog named Shaggy is handed from a National Guard truck to National Guard personnel after the dog and his owner left a flooded building in Hoboken, New Jersey, on October 31, 2012. Some residents and pets are being plucked from their homes by large trucks as parts of the city are still covered in standing water. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle) # 
A man checks his car as oil-filled floodwaters continue to fill streets in Hoboken, New Jersey, on October 31, 2012.(Reuters/Gary Hershorn) # 
People wait in line to purchase steaks while George Elizalde cooks the food on a grill in front of the Old Homestead Steakhouse in New York, on October 31, 2012. In lower Manhattan, some stores are open even though their power is still out. Others are busing essential employees to work. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) # 
People visit the Karma Kafe, one of the few open businesses, which set up a sidewalk shop in Hoboken, New Jersey, on October 31, 2012.(Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images) # 
People examine the wreckage of a boat washed ashore in Great Kills, Staten Island, following Hurricane Sandy in New York, on October 31, 2012. The boats settled on Mansion Avenue after the storm surge from the hurricane saw waters rise waters 15 feet in the area.(Reuters/Andrew Kelly) # 
People line up to buy food from a cart in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in New York, on October 30, 2012. (Reuters/Carlo Allegri) # 
People gather around a campfire to keep warm in the lower east side in New York, on October 31, 2012. (Reuters/Carlo Allegri) # 
People charge their cell phones at a generator supplied by a local theatre troupe in New York's Lower East Village in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, on October 31, 2012. The theatre set up a generator, power cords and a table for the community to charge their phones. (Reuters/Carlo Allegri) # 
A man looks at a damaged house in Seagate Association, a gated community, after Hurricane Sandy in New York, on October 30, 2012.(Reuters/Andrew Kelly) # 
A view shows boats piled next to a house, where they were washed ashore during Hurricane Sandy, near Monmouth Beach, New Jersey, on October 31, 2012. (Reuters/Steve Nesius) # 
Freddie Nocella, Jr., left, hands a vase to his grandfather Bill Schmith, as Schmith works to salvage belongings from his heavily damaged home, on October 31, 2012, in Babylon Village, New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow) # 
Captain Charles Bodien Jr. posts a condemned sign on a summer camp on Webster Lake, in Franklin, New Hampshire, on October 31, 2012, after a tree crashed down on it from the high winds of superstorm Sandy. (AP Photo/Jim Cole) # 
FDNY firefighters respond to a fire in a storefront after the roof collapsed, on October 31, 2012, in the Brooklyn borough of New York.(AP Photo/ John Minchillo) # 
A canoe sits in the lobby of an apartment building in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, on October 30, 2012.(Reuters/Diana Ingerman) # 
Homes wrecked by Superstorm Sandy sit among sand washed ashore on October 31, 2012 in Seaside Heights, New Jersey.(Mario Tama/Getty Images) # 
Storm damage from Sandy over the Atlantic Coast in Mantoloking, New Jersey, on October 31, 2012. (AP Photo/Doug Mills) # 
A largely unlit downtown Manhattan stands under a night sky, darkened by a power blackout caused by Hurricane Sandy, on October 30, 2012. (Reuters/Andrew Kelly) # 
Lisa Kravchenko, in her Halloween costume, stands among flood debris in the Staten Island borough of New York, on October 31, 2012.(AP Photo/ John Minchillo) # 
New York's Grand Central Station begins to fill with travelers shortly before Metro North commuter train service was to resume for the first time since October 28, following Hurricane Sandy, on October 31, 2012. (Reuters/Mike Segar) #
The atmosphere begins to return to normal in Times Square on October 31, 2012 in New York City. (John Lamparski/Getty Images) # This astonishing time-lapse video released by NASA shows just how Superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc across the US East Coast. The superstorm's path was predicted almost exactly by the National Hurricane Center - and this accurate forecast was critical to ensuring authorities knew which direction it would take. The centre, based in Miami, Florida, had an average error in its track forecast three days into the future for Sandy of just 71 miles, which dropped to only 48 miles within two days of it hitting. Scroll down for videos First-look: Sandy is seen over the Caribbean on October 25 at 06:40 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) Moving along: Sandy is seen last Sunday (October 28) at 17:32 UTC, just before it struck the US East Coast Devastation: Sandy hit the US East Coast last Monday (October 29) and it is pictured here at 15:45 UTC Destruction: Sandy passes over New Jersey and causes huge damage on Tuesday (October 30) at 03:55 UTC Leaving: Sandy begins to leave the US on Wednesday (October 31) at 11:45 UTC after causing destruction This is compared to an average error of 518 miles in 1970, 345 miles in 1990 and 138 miles from 2007 to 2011. The average in the past five years was 96 miles, reported the Washington Post. The NHC correctly predicted by last Thursday morning that southern New Jersey would be near the centre of Sandy’s track forecast - around 108 hours before it hit land. He added: ‘During the period from 2003 to 2008, the average storm track forecast had an error that was down to less than 200 miles at 72 hours, and less than 100 miles at 48 hours.’ Burning: This aerial photo shows a fire in the wake of Superstorm Sandy in Jersey Shore on Wednesday Rebuild: A new break in the island across Route 35 at the Herbert Street bridge in Mantoloking, New Jersey Wrecked: Destruction in the wake of Superstorm Sandy on Wednesday in Seaside Heights, New Jersey But the five-day forecast error margin for Hurricane Isaac, which hit Louisiana in August, was 253 miles - above the modern-day average of 245 - although it was only 70 miles out with 48 hours to go. And storm intensity forecasts have not progressed like track forecasts over recent years, because computer models still have problems capturing small-scale details such as air mass characteristics. Sandy was blamed for at least 98 deaths in the US and Canada, and left New Jersey's barrier islands a wasteland of eroded shoreline, ruined beachfront homes, flooded streets and damaged utilities. As New York City came back to life yesterday, starting with the partial reopening of subway routes three days after the storm, it was revealed the total U.S. damage could hit $50billion (£31billion). This would make it the second-costliest storm in US history after Hurricane Katrina. Warnings also rose again over global warming and the prospect of more similar severe weather to come. Keone Singlehurst, 42, who lives in a bungalow on Beach 87th Street in the Ever since Sandy strafed the Queens peninsula and tore up the boardwalk, it’s become an often lawless place where cops are even scarcer than electrical power and food. Locals say they are arming themselves with guns, baseball bats, booby traps — even a bow and arrow — to defend against looters. Thugs have been masquerading as Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) workers, knocking on doors in the dead of night. But locals say the real workers have been nowhere in sight, causing at least one elected official — who fears a descent into anarchy if help doesn’t arrive soon — to call for the city to investigate the utility. PHOTOS: HURRICANE SANDY'S PATH OF DESTRUCTION LIVE BLOG: THE AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE SANDY Further exacerbating desperate conditions, it could take at least a month to repair the the bridge that connects the Rockaways to the city subway system, officials said. “We booby-trapped our door and keep a baseball bat beside our bed,” said Danielle Harris, 34, rummaging through donated supplies as children rode scooters along half-block chunk of the boardwalk that had marooned into the middle of Beach 91st St. “We heard gunshots for three nights in a row,” said Harris, who believed they came from the nearby housing projects. Carly Ruggieri, 27, who lives in water-damaged house on the block, said she barricades her door with a bed frame. “There have been people in power department uniforms knocking on doors and asking if they’re okay, but at midnight.” And another local surfer said he has knives, a machete and a bow and arrow on the ready. Gunshots and slow-rolling cars have become a common fixture of the night since Hurricane Sandy. “I would take a looter with a boa. If I felt threatened I would definitely use it,” said Keone Singlehurst, 42. “Its like the Wild West. A borderline lawless situation.” City Councilman James Sanders (D-Far Rockaway) said he fears the situation will devolve into anarchy. “We have an explosive mix here,” said Sanders. “People will take matters into their own hands.” Walter Meyer, 37, lives in Park Slope but often surfs in the Rockaways. He said it’s not the place it was before the storm. "After sunset everyone locks their doors,” said Meyer, as he loaded up a solar panel from a factory in the Brooklyn Navy Yard to bring to local residents. "They're trying to find whatever weapons they can find. Some people are even using bows and arrows." “If you are heeding into the Rockaway beach to assist, there is a request for firearms, hot food, and cold beer. These next 24 hours are critical for these folks, the government has really let them down,” Meyer posted on Facebook Thursday. Over at the Rockaway Beach Surf Club on Beach 87th St, volunteers cleaned up the storm debris and collected donated food and water for the survivors. “We’re just trying to clean everything so we can get supplies to people who need them,” said Bradach Walsh, 39, who is a city firefighter who founded the Surf Club. “All our friends’ houses and cars are destroyed.” Further east in the Rockaways, hunger stalked the community as angry residents lined up for food deliveries and complained they were being abandoned. Good Samaritans had set up makeshift food throughout the peninsula Friday, grilling food and passing out water, while the Red Cross and FEMA was nowhere in sight. “We having nothing,” said Ann Manning, at an Edgemere playground where State Sen. Malcolm Smith had arranged to distribute thousands of lunch boxes from a company that supplies airports. “We have nothing. They’re hungry,” said Manning. Grocery stores on the Peninsula are closed and some have been looted. “We can’t exist,” said Manning. “We can’t buy milk. We can’t buy cereal. We can’t buy nothing.” Shaheem Bush, 23, said there’s several hungry mouths in his darkened apartment in Far Rockaway. “It’s cold in the house, no lights on,” he said. “Everything’s closed because people were stealing from stores. There’s no food. People are cooking on top of garbage cans." LIPA which supplies power to the entire peninsula, inspected the area Thursday. “LIPA should be brought up on charges,” said Sanders, a Democrat, slamming the utility for taking so long to assess the damage at one of the most hurricane-ravaged areas of the city. “LIPA has failed the people of the Rockaways,” he said. “It’s a question of class ... serving the richer areas of Long Island and ignoring the Rockaways.” Sanders said he has been calling LIPA’s office four times a day with no response. He wants City Council to investigate them. Meanwhile, he said, crooks are taking advantage of the chaos. “There’s been sporadic looting and a couple push-in robberies,” he said. “No one is directing traffic. After night, you drive at your own risk.” Out on Breezy Point, the air still reeked of gas, smoke and rot. And an invasion of insurance adjusters, some of whom came from as far away as Texas, was underway. Pat Doyle, a 60-year-old court officer from Mineola, L.I., whose summer home in Breezy Point was flooded, said his family also owns another house nearby which burned down. “A lot of people don’t have flood insurance,” he said. “It’s too high.” Still, said Doyle, it could have been worse. “We’re all pitching in and doing what we can do for each other,” he said. “That’s the kind of neighborhood we are down here. The neighbors will be chipping in good sums of money, labor and food. Whatever it takes.” Making matters worse, the A Train crossing over Jamaica Bay, south of the Howard Beach station, was decimated, officials said. The MTA took all trains off the Rockaway peninsula prior to the storm to prevent damage to the equipment. The MTA now can't even run the Rockaway shuttle on the peninsula because there are no trains, one official said. There is also no shuttle bus service. "You have half a million people disconnected from the city," said Meyer. "Rockaways always gets left over,” he said. "It's treated like a marginalized land in the city." A spirited dog who was pinned under the tree that killed his owner and her best friend for 12 hours has been pulled out alive. Max suffered lacerations in his mouth, a broken jaw and head injuries and was discovered next to the dead bodies of Jessie Streich-Kest, 24, and Jacob Vogelman, 23, who walked himin Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, New York, believing the worst of Superstorm Sandy had passed. They were crushed at around 8pm on Monday evening but in the chaos their bodies were not found until 7.55am on Tuesday. 'Inseparable': Max was adopted by Jessie Streich-Kest, 24, who was killed with her friend when they walked him - but he was rescued and taken to hospital Max was adopted by Jessie, a special needs teacher, from the ASPCA. When the crushed pit-bull was found, he was taken to Verg South, a veterinary hospital in Brooklyn, who treated his injuries and will look after him until he is fit enough to back and live with Miss Streich-Kest's bereft family. 'It's just a testament to Max's spirit that he pulled through this tragedy,' the vet who is treating him, Brett Levitzke, said. 'It's also a testament to his owner that she went to a local shelter and saved putting him to sleep. That's why the whole story is really heartbreaking, but hopefully it will have a happy ending for Max. 'Max was definitely critical for the past few days, but over the past 24 hours, he has taken quite a turn for the better,' adding he is out of his cage and now eating. Dog lover and political activist: Jessie Streich-Kest was killed by a falling tree when our walking her dog, Max, with Jacob Vogelman Fighter: Max was critical for the past few days but took a turn for the better and is now out of his cage and eating 'He's a ton better,' he said. 'The fact is, Max is a real trooper.' Max is one of at least 100 pets who were rescued in New York during Superstorm Sandy, but many more may be stranded, lost or dead. Verg South hospital has used generators to operate 24 hours a day, treating animals with ailments like broken bones, brain swellings, stress and vomiting caused by the violence and toxicity of the flood waters. Mr Levitzke said: 'He (Max) was mentally very dull because of head trauma' and that he will probably need surgery in the coming days. 'Jessie was a wonderful, amazing human being and they were a perfect match, so I am happy he is surviving,' family friend Barbara Gross said, adding about Max. 'They were inseparable.' Pat Atia, whose house faces out on to the road where Jessie and Jacob died. Shockwaves: Scene of the tree fall in Ditmas Park that killed dog walkers Ms Streich-Kest and Mr Vogelman Buried: Emergency services remove the two bodies from beneath the tree in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn She told the New York Times: 'We had no idea. I was outside taking pictures of my house for the insurance when a cop said "back up, back up" and I saw a young man dead under the tree.' Ms Streich-Kest grew up in the Prospect Park South area of Brooklyn and was a teaching fellow who had just started teaching at the Bushwick School for Social Justice. Friends said she had been relieved to get through her first parents' evening at the high school last week. She was also an activist who campaigned to stop abuse of the carriage horses in Central Park, following in the footsteps of her father, Jon, who is a prominent Union figure. Facebook photographs showed her attending the 2008 inauguration of President Obama in Washington. At least 90 people are now known to have died after the monster storm felled enormous trees, downed dangerous power lines, swamped homes with floodwater and inflicted billions of dollars’ worth of damage. Tragic: Jacob Vogelman (left) and Jessie Streich-Kest were crushed by a falling tree as they walked their dog in Brooklyn in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy Friends: Ms Streich-Kest (right) and Mr Vogelman (left) were not found until early on Tuesday morning Neighbour Matt MacLean said: 'Jessie was first a student and then a friend of mine. I can't believe that she's not here anymore. Her passion for animal welfare, political activism, and her new career as a high school teacher were so amazing. 'She could plow through all sorts of obstacles and her fortitude was a sight to behold. My heart goes out to her family, it just doesn't seem real.’ Her family released the following statement: 'Just 24 years old, Jessie Streich-Kest left a lasting impression on all who met her, and especially on her students at Bushwick HS for Social Justice, to whom she was deeply committed. 'Jessie loved life and was deeply devoted to social justice.' Mr Vogelman, also from Brooklyn, was studying at Brooklyn College campus of the City University of New York. A keen thespian, he had studied theatre at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas and formerly worked as a stagehand at the MGM Grand. Almost one week after superstorm Sandy struck the East Coast with its ferocious force, power was still out to some 2.5 million customers due to damages, down from 3.5 million on Friday, the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Electricity Delivery & Energy Reliability claimed. Tthe state with the largest number of outages by far is still New Jersey with 32 percent of customers without power, it said it a report. And as the lights begin to flicker on in Lower Manhattan, nine percent of customers across the state of New York still do not have power, followed by seven percent in Connecticut. Scroll down for video Artist Konstantin Bokov gets water to boil for drinking from an old fire hrydrant at Rockaway Beach, New York on November 3, 2012. He has no power, and no running water What remains: Julie Traina tries to recover some personal items from the destroyed home of her parents in Staten Island yesterday Vigilante justice: A sign is seen outside a home in Long Beach in Long Island on November 2 gives a dire warning to would-be looters Under protection: A warning message seen written on a door to keep away looters in a street in Freeport, Long Island as they try to return to normalcy following the hurricane Wild west: People walk through the heavily damaged Rockaway neighborhood in Queens where a large section of the iconic boardwalk was washed away The hunger games: Two women look into the window of a flooded deli while searching for food in Coney Island, four days after Sandy Aid: A boy watches as members of the U.S. Army National Guard unload food and supplies in the Rockaways section of Queens This comes as residents of the Rockaways in Queens continued to struggle without power, heat or food for a sixth day as their neighborhood slowly descended into chaos. 'It's chaos; it's pandemonium out here,' said Chris Damon, who had been waiting for 3.5 hours at the site and had circled the block five times. "It seems like nobody has any answers." Added Damon: 'I feel like a victim of Hurricane Katrina. I never thought it could happen here in New York, but it's happened.' With little police presence on the storm-ravaged streets, many residents of the peninsula have been forced to take their protection into their own hands, arming themselves with guns, baseball bats and even bows and arrows to ward off thugs seeking to loot their homes. It has been reported that crooks have been disguising themselves as Long Island Power Authority workers and coming by homes on the peninsula in the middle of the night while real utility workers were nowhere to be found. 'We booby-trapped our door and keep a baseball bat beside our bed,' Danielle Harris, 34, told the New York Daily News. The woman added that she has been hearing gunshots likely fired in the nearby housing project for three nights in a row. Meanwhile, local surfer Keone Singlehurst said that he stockpiled knives, a machete and a bow and arrow. ‘I would take a looter with a boa if a felt threatened I would definitely use it,' he said. 'It's like the wild west. A borderline lawless situation.' City Councilman James Sanders said he fears that things are going to get even worse. 'We have an explosive mix here,' he said. 'People will take matters into their own hands.' Sanders has directed much of his anger and frustration at LIPA, calling on the City Council to investigate the utility for ignoring the Rockaways for so long. ‘LIPA has failed the people of the Rockaways,’ he said. ‘It’s a question of class... serving the richer areas of Long Island and ignoring the Rockaways.’ Barbecue: Collins Wimbish cooks food over a fire in a barrel in the Rockaways neighborhood of Queens Keeping in touch: People charge cell phones at a police generator in Rockaways Destroyed: This Rockaways boardwalk that was pushed off of its pilings by storm surge Making do: Large areas of New York outside Manhattan are still without power or functioning stores to buy food and water following Hurricane Sandy Ruins: A silhouetted man walks past a strip of destroyed buildings in Rockaways Reception: A man makes a phone call next to discarded storm garbage in Coney Island Friday Walter Meyer, 37, told the Daily News that the Rockaways of today bears little resemblance to the peaceful place where he has surfed so many times in the past. Shooting looters: A toy dog wearing a military helmet sits atop a car holding a sing warning off looters in a resident's driveway in the Rockaways 'After sunset everyone locks their doors,' he said. 'They're trying to find whatever weapons they can find. Some people are even using bows and arrows.' Along with mounting safety concerns, homeowners in the beachfront community hit hard by Hurricane Sandy that has left 109 dead continued to face hunger, complaining that federal officials have left them to fend for themselves. 'Rockaways always get left over,' said Meyer. 'It's treated like a marginalized land in the city.' Most of the grocery stores in the area have not reopened since the storm, and the neighborhood has been left cut off from the rest of the city, with no trains or even shuttle buses servicing the residents. Stranded neighbors largely have been relying on volunteers delivering food, water and other basic necessities while the Red Cross and FEMA were still nowhere in sight. 'We can't exist,' said Ann Manning. 'We can't buy milk. We can't buy cereal. We can't buy nothing.' As they scrape round desperately for food and are forced to use their gas hobs to keep warm, many claim they are the forgotten victims of Sandy. The Borough President of Staten Island called the reaction of Red Cross - or lack thereof - to the devastation caused by Sandy an 'absolute disgrace'. Destruction: Marina Sverdlov talks to a real estate broker while standing in her flood ravaged home in Staten Island No safe harbor: Boats pushed up by Hurricane Sandy lie against residences next to a marina on in Staten Island as a man walks his dog Bitter: A sign about the marathon and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is displayed in a devastated section of Staten Island yesterday, before the marathon was canceled Relief: People eat soup at a donation and distribution center in the Rockaways, though residents are complaining there is not enough assistance for them Survival: Emilio Langilotti of Staten Island carries food from a FEMA and American Red Cross aid and disaster relief station in the borough James Molinaro went as far as to tell people not to donate to the charity because when push came to shove, the group just didn't deliver when Staten Island needed them the most. Sons of Anarchy star – and Staten Island native — Theo Rossi told InsideTV about the trials of his old community. He’s remained there ever since the hurricane struck and gave his first-hand account of the devastation. 'It’s so bad here, a lot worse than how its being portrayed by the media.,' he said. 'They are finding bodies left and right, elderly people who don’t even watch the news or who knew the storm was coming. I was just with one of my best friends from high school and college, and his house is completely gone. 'I know this island in and out. To see it completely destroyed is bizarre. 'I’ve been trying to hit every shelter on Staten Island to do what I can, just to make people smile. A lot of people know me and know I’m from here.' 'My advice to the people of Staten Island is do not donate to the American Red Cross,' said Mr Molinaro. 'Let them get their money elsewhere.' 'It's an absolute disgrace in a county that has always responded to disasters all over the world,' he said. 'Katrina - we sent them down four trailer loads of food, water and one trailer load of generators. No one's responding to us.' Residents are pleading for help as they fear their devastated neighborhoods are being ignored. In a Coney Island apartment block, where tenants huddle together in one room and human waste spills out of the toilet, tenant Jeffery Francis despairs that help is not getting to Brooklyn faster. We are scavenging for food like animals,’ he told the New York Daily News. 'We are in a crisis and no one will help us. Look at us. We are misery. Everyone cares about Manhattan. No one is looking out for us. Nothing.’ At another apartment where power is still out, residents are out of food and praying for help. Albert Miller, 58, told the paper: ‘One person found a sandwich and we split it four ways.’ While power is likely to be returned to Manhattan’s East and West Villages, Financial District, Chelsea, Chinatown and the Lower East Side by the weekend, according to the power company Con Edison outages in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island are not expected to be repaired for another week. Across Staten Island residents are also increasingly frustrated they are being passed over while other parts of New York and New Jersey receive aid and attention. Residents are furious the island is being prepared as the starting line for Sunday’s marathon, while hundreds are left hungry and witOne resident there told CBS station WCBS, ‘We're gonna die! We're gonna freeze! We've got 90-year-old people!’hout homes in the wake of the superstorm. Natvel Pritchard, of Staten Island, told CBS News, ‘Though people don't talk about Staten Island much, people are here, a lot of people are hurting, so it's upsetting.’ Crossings: Alexandra Lopez, 7, looks out the window of the Staten Island Ferry on November 2 Two worlds: The half of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge attached to Brooklyn is lit while the half attached to Staten Island is dark last night Homes across Brooklyn and Coney Island are some of the worst hit in the wake of the superstorm. Many houses shattered into piles of bricks and splintered planks at Coney Island, while others stand waterlogged and abandoned. What's left: Mounds of debris can be seen in the massively damaged Rockaway neighborhood Damages: Jeff Kulikowski sits on a bench on the boardwalk that was pushed off of its pilings by storm surge in the Rockaways One gated community at the tip of the island, Seagate, was particularly badly hit, with some houses entirely washed away or flattened. For power companies, the scale of the destruction was unmatched - more widespread than any blizzard or ice storm and worse than the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. 'It's unprecedented: fallen trees, debris, the roads, water, snow. It's a little bit of everything,' said Brian Wolff, senior vice president of the Edison Electric Institute, a group that lobbies for utilities. Initially, about 60 million people were without power in 8.2 million homes and businesses. By Wednesday night, that number had fallen to roughly 44 million people in 6 million households and businesses and today around 3.6 million are without power Stacked: Boats piled up on top of one another near Beach Haven Inlet on the New Jersey coastline. Residents in New York's outer boroughs, and elsewhere outside the city, believe they are being passed over while aid is directed to Manhattan Destruction: Homes in the Sea Gate part of Brooklyn have been ripped apart by the superstorm Ruin: Whole walls and roofs of homes in Sea Gate, Brooklyn, were destroyed by the storm Areas of New York and New Jersey are still without power days after Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast of America The Borough President of Staten Island called the reaction of Red Cross - or lack thereof - to the devastation caused by Sandy an 'absolute disgrace'. James Molinaro went as far as to tell people not to donate to the charity because when push came to shove, the group just didn't deliver when Staten Island needed them the most. 'My advice to the people of Staten Island is do not donate to the American Red Cross,' said Mr Molinaro. 'Let them get their money elsewhere.' 'It's an absolute disgrace in a county that has always responded to disasters all over the world,' he said. 'Katrina - we sent them down four trailer loads of food, water and one trailer load of generators. No one's responding to us.' ‘Of the 22 people across New York City that have perished, 15 of them died in Staten Island. The borough is still underwater.’ Devastating: Homes across Staten Island were flooded in the superstorm and many feel they are facing their ordeal without adequate support Counting the loss: Residents in Ocean Breeze, Staten Island, salvage what they can from their flood-damaged home) The Rockaway neighbourhood of Brookly, where the historic boardwalk was washed away, has faced terrible destruction, with buildings collapsing and cars damaged Hope: As one Sea Gate resident's possessions are left strewn across the beach in the wake of the superstorm, they send a message about life's priorities in the face of misfortune Devastation: Walls were ripped off and buildings collapsed as Sandy ravaged buildings in Sea Gate, Brooklyn Merciless: A beachfront house in Coney Island's Sea Gate community is reduced to rubble in the wake of the superstorm A helping hand: Residents start to piece things together again following the superstorm's trail of destruction Residents are pleading for help as they fear their devastated neighbourhoods are being ignored. In a Coney Island apartment block, where tenants huddle together in one room and human waste spills out of the toilet, tenant Jeffery Francis despairs that help is not getting to Brooklyn faster. ‘We are scavenging for food like animals,’ he told the New York Daily News. 'We are in a crisis and no one will help us. Look at us. We are misery. Everyone cares about Manhattan. No one is looking out for us. Nothing.’ At another apartment where power is still out, residents are out of food and praying for help. Albert Miller, 58, told the paper: ‘One person found a sandwich and we split it four ways.’ While power is likely to be returned to Manhattan’s East and West Villages, Financial District, Chelsea, Chinatown and the Lower East Side by the weekend, according to the power company Con Edison outages in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island are not expected to be repaired for another week. Across Staten Island residents are also increasingly frustrated they are being passed over while other parts of New York and New Jersey receive aid and attention. Residents are furious the island is being prepared as the starting line for Sunday’s marathon, while hundreds are left hungry and without homes in the wake of the superstorm. One resident there told CBS station WCBS, ‘We're gonna die! We're gonna freeze! We've got 90-year-old people!’ Natvel Pritchard, of Staten Island, told CBS News, ‘Though people don't talk about Staten Island much, people are here, a lot of people are hurting, so it's upsetting.’ Witnessing: Mayor Michael Bloomberg toured the storm damaged area of Tottenville in Staten Island with Councilman Vincent Ignizio on Wednesday... but two days later residents are feeling ignored Disorder: A car that washed up on a bench during the superstorm in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn The foundations of the historic Rockaways boardwalk are all that remain after it was washed away during the superstorm Aftermath: Trees damaged several cars as Sandy made its way through Brooklyn leaving residents to pick up the pieces Homes across Brooklyn and Coney Island are some of the worst hit in the wake of the superstorm. Many houses shattered into piles of bricks and splintered planks at Coney Island, while others stand waterlogged and abandoned. One gated community at the tip of the island, Seagate, was particularly badly hit, with some houses entirely washed away or flattened. Across the bridge in Manhattan, many neighbourhoods are still in darkness and residents have resorted to digging through filthy dumpsters for food. The Lower East Side and East Village neighbourhoods have both been in darkness for days. Shocking images captured groups of residents sifting through garbage outside a Key Food supermarket in the East Village yesterday. For power companies, the scale of the destruction was unmatched - more widespread than any blizzard or ice storm and worse than the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. 'It's unprecedented: fallen trees, debris, the roads, water, snow. It's a little bit of everything,' said Brian Wolff, senior vice president of the Edison Electric Institute, a group that lobbies for utilities. Initially, about 60 million people were without power in 8.2 million homes and businesses. By Wednesday night, that number had fallen to roughly 44 million people in 6 million households and businesses and today around 3.8 million are without power. People line up for fuel in the corner of Hylan Boulevard and Reid Avenue in Staten Island Long recovery: The superstorm left great floods in its wake in Dumbo, Brooklyn and the recovery from this state on Tuesday will take some time Chaos: Water reaches the street level of the flooded Brooklyn Battery Tunnel in the wake of Sandy Power cut: From Brooklyn you could see Manhattan plunged into darkness during the superstorm - while one half of the city's iconic skyline is almost completely dark, lights are still visible on the left hand side of the picture
Exactly as predicted: Time-lapse NASA satellite footage shows Superstorm Sandy's path of destruction along U.S. East Coast
Andrew Freedman of research group Climate Central said that National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration figures show track forecasts have improved by 50 per cent over the past 15 years.
Rockaways, says he wouldn't hesitate to use a bow on a looter. When night falls in the Rockaways, the hoods come out.
Joe Marino for New York Daily News
A woman finds her Breezy Point neighborhood laid to waste on Wednesday.
Joe Marino for New York Daily News
Residents returned to Breezy Point, Queens, to grieve and collect belongings from their decimated homes.
Anthony DelMundo for New York Daily News
The bridge where the A train goes through to cross into the Rockaways will be closed for a while.
Loyal dog found crushed under fallen tree that killed his owner as Sandy struck is pulled out alive
Misery for 2.5 million STILL without power after six days as lawlessness and fear take over New York's outer boroughs
VIDEO: Anger and resentment over continued lack of power and gas...
ANARCHY IN STATEN ISLAND
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A week ago today, superstorm Sandy powered ashore, making landfall in the U.S. and wreaking havoc across the northeast. Damage estimates now reach as high as $50 billion, which would make Sandy the second-costliest Atlantic hurricane in history. At least 113 lives were lost across 10 states, and more than 1 million people are still without power across New York and New Jersey. Where the damage was worst, aid workers, National Guardsmen, soldiers, and groups of civilian volunteers arrived, bringing supplies, beginning cleanup, providing what was needed -- in many cases, neighbor helping neighbor. Collected here are images of Sandy recovery from just the past weekend, showing what has been accomplished so far and the massive amount of work that remains to be done.
A police helicopter hovers as it drops supplies for residents in the Staten Island Borough of New York, on November 3, 2012 in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Northeast residents lucky enough to have a roof after Hurricane Sandy struck now face a new problem: a heating oil shortage and widespread power outages mean some homes may go cold as the weather turns wintry. (Reuters/Keith Bedford)
A police helicopter hovers as it drops supplies for residents in the Staten Island Borough of New York, on November 3, 2012 in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Northeast residents lucky enough to have a roof after Hurricane Sandy struck now face a new problem: a heating oil shortage and widespread power outages mean some homes may go cold as the weather turns wintry. (Reuters/Keith Bedford)
Young residents stay warm near a fire in their storm affected neighborhood in Staten Island, on November 4, 2012. A housing crisis loomed in New York City as victims of superstorm Sandy struggled on Sunday without heat in near-freezing temperatures, and officials fretted displaced residents would not be able to vote in Tuesday's presidential election. (Reuters/Adrees Latif) #
Hauling sand after Hurricane Sandy, Coney Island, Brooklyn. Original here. (CC BY Timothy Krause) #
Eddie Liu uses a broom to clean up mud and water from extensive flooding in a laundromat due to superstorm Sandy in Coney Island, on November 2, 2012. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) #
Marines and sailors work to repair a pier in Hobobken, New Jersey, on November 3. (USMC/Cpl. Bryan Nygaard) #
A roadside sign warns looters as residents continue to clean up after Hurricane Sandy in Nejecho Beach, New Jersey, on November 4, 2012. (Reuters/Steve Nesius) #
Dominic Dipietco, a specialist with the Maryland Urban Search and Rescue Task Force, with search dog Jed, aboard a U.S. Army CH-47 helicopter assigned to the Georgia Army National Guard on a flight from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, to Staten Island, New York, to conduct house-to-house searches, on November 3, 2012. (USAF/Tech. Sgt. Parker Gyokeres) #
A home damaged by Hurricane Sandy is seen in Mantoloking, New Jersey, on November 2, 2012. (Reuters/New Jersey Governor's Office/Tim Larsen) #
The high-water mark is visible on the walls behind a worker, as he scrapes up mud and tiles from flood-damaged Saint Rose High School in Belmar, New Jersey, on November 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) #
Blackout conditions in Hoboken, New Jersey, on November 2, 2012. Original here. (CC BY Alec Perkins) #
A flyer posted for a missing parrot in Coney Island, after Hurricane Sandy. Original here. (CC BY Timothy Krause) #
A street lined with water-damaged debris in Staten Island. Original here. (CC BY ND John de Guzman) #
The South Ferry subway station in lower Manhattan was damaged by seawater flooding during Hurricane Sandy. Crews are working to restore the station by pumping out the seawater. (MTA New York City Transit/Leonard Wiggins) #
New York City Transit employees use a pump train, to remove water from the Cranberry Street Tunnel, which carries the A and C trains between Brooklyn and Manhattan underneath the East River. (MTA New York City Transit/Leonard Wiggins) #
A man sits in darkness as he attends the first mass since superstorm Sandy at St. Camillus in the Rockaways area of Queens, on November 4, 2012. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) #
The half of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge attached to Brooklyn is lit while the half attached to Staten Island is dark, in New York, on November 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) #
Inside a storm-damaged Shoprite grocery store in Hoboken, New Jersey, on November 2, 2012. Original here. (CC BY Alec Perkins) #
New York Air National Guard Senior Master Sgt. Thomas Moade from the 174th Attack Wing, out of Syracuse, New York, leads other members of the 174th as well as members of the New York Army Guard from Newburg in taking water and cases of food to local residents in Staten Island, on November 2, 2012. (New York Air National Guard/Tech. Sgt. Jeremy M. Call) #
Cpl. Smith Thenor, a native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, a combat engineer with a detachment of 8th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group based out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, organizes hoses to pump water out of the basement of an apartment building in Far Rockaway, New York, on November 4. The detatchment of Marines from 8th ESB volunteered to help aid the victims of the cities that were effected by Hurricane Sandy. (USMC/Cpl. Caleb Gomez) #
Paul Stetson, a logistics specialist with the 99th Regional Support Command, inspects a hose before connecting it to an improvised cage filter, on November 4 at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Stetson and his team constructed 20 filters from shopping carts donated by the Fort Dix Commissary. The filters and pumps will help remove water from flooded roadways and subways as a result of Hurricane Sandy. # 
A workman repairs damage to the steeple of the First United Methodist Church in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in Port Jefferson, New York, on November 4, 2012. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) #
Aerial photo of storm-damaged Fun Town Pier amusement park, on the New Jersey shore. (USFWS/Greg Thompson) #
A young girl picks a toy at the municipal center which has been serving as an emergency provisions distribution center in Union Beach, New Jersey, on November 2, 2012. Over 200 homes in a town of only 6,200 residents were destroyed by the storm. (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) #
A woman looks at messages about Hurricane Sandy that are posted in the window of a Fishs Eddy housewares store in New York, on November 2, 2012. (Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images) #
Dr Rosanna Troia breaks down in tears while helping clean out her mother's home in the Midland Beach neighborhood of Staten Island, on November 3, 2012. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images) #
Department of Sanitation trucks work to clean up destroyed sections of boardwalk ripped apart by superstorm Sandy along Shore Front Parkway in the Rockaways area of Queens, on November 4, 2012. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) #
A woman sifts through her mother's storm-damaged home for items to save in the Breezy Point neighborhood of Queens, on November 4, 2012. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images) #
A message reading "Working Bathroom. Not the cleanest. How bad do you need it?", left on flooded belongings outside a house hit by hurricane Sandy in Staten Island, on November 3, 2012. (Reuters/Adrees Latif) #
People salvage food from bags thrown out of a flooded store in Coney Island, on November 4, 2012. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) #
A message of support for the New York Department of Sanitation is painted on the side of a stranded boat on Cross Bay Boulevard in Queens, on November 4, 2012. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) #
Mac Abrotsky uses his gas stove to heat his 5th floor apartment in a high-rise apartment building that remained devoid of power, heat, and water in the Brighton Beach neighborhood of New York, on November 2, 2012. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) #
A child makes shadow puppets with head lamps while volunteers go door to door in the Meltzer Towers Housing Project giving out food and water to elderly and disabled residents, on November 2, 2012 in New York City. The electricity, heat and water are out in all New York public housing buildings. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images) #
A man walks along the beach in the heavily damaged Rockaway neighborhood, in Queens where a large section of the iconic boardwalk was washed away, on November 2, 2012. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) #
Hurricane Sandy clean-up on Staten Island, part of the NYC #Volunteerathon. Original here. (CC BY Paul Soulellis) #
A member of the Fire Department confronts a boy who was taking copper piping from a neighbor's home in the Breezy Point neighborhood of Queens, on November 4, 2012. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images) #
The scene at Occupy Wall Street's Hurricane Sandy relief drop off center at St. Jacobi's church in Sunset Park Brooklyn, on the evening of November 1, 2012. Volunteers prepared food and water supplies for flood devastated Rockaway and Staten island amid a steady stream of donors. Original here. (CC BY Flickr user Sunset Parkerpix) #
Kathy Lahey sifts through her damaged home for items to save in Breezy Point, Queens, on November 4, 2012. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images) #
Ed Banek of Hackensack distributes hot soup to Amanda Leo, 10, and Megan Jeffers of Clifton in one of the Hurricane Sandy damaged neighborhoods in Little Ferry, New Jersey, on November 3, 2012. (Reuters/New Jersey Governor's Office/Tim Larsen) #
A woman passes a group of National Guardsmen as they march up 1st Avenue towards the 69th Regiment Armory, on November 3, 2012, in New York. National Guardsmen remain in Manhattan as the city begins to move towards normalcy following Superstorm Sandy earlier in the week. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) #
A block of high-rise apartment buildings that remain devoid of power, heat, and water stand in front of other buildings that have their utilities intact in the Brighton Beach neighborhood of New York, on November 2, 2012. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) #
Ventilation pipes pile into a building in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, as cleanup from damages caused by Superstorm Sandy continue, on November 5, 2012, in New York. (AP Photo/ John Minchillo) #
People in cars and on foot line up for free gasoline in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, on November 3, 2012. Trucks provided by the U.S. Department of Defense at the direction of President Barack Obama at this site and others were deployed in coordination with the New York National Guard at the direction of the governor. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle) #
A member of the National Guard hands out free sandwiches to people waiting in line for gas at the Armory in the Midland Beach neighborhood of Staten Island, on November 3, 2012. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images) #
Mark Baronowski shovels sand from the living room of a beachfront house in Bay Head, New Jersey, on November 4, 2012. (Reuters/Tom Mihalek) #
A sign lies on top of debris in a neighborhood affected by Hurricane Sandy in Staten Island, on November 4, 2012. (Reuters/Adrees Latif) #
Muddy boots on volunteers, after Sandy clean-up on Staten Island, part of the NYC #Volunteerathon. Original here. (CC BY Paul Soulellis) #
Members of the US Air Force National Guard patrol the Midland Beach neighborhood of Staten Island, looking for those in need of food, water or clothing, on November 3, 2012 in New York City. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images)
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