by By Gary Strauss and Carolyn Pesce, USA TODAY
Much of the storm-battered Northeast is now in early
recovery
mode. But widespread devastation and ongoing fallout from Superstorm
Sandy will likely prolong rescue and rebuilding efforts, hampering the lives of millions over a wide area for days.
With Sandy's U.S. death toll now at 74 and estimates
of destruction and economic fallout running as high as $55 billion, several flood and wind-ravaged states are restoring some semblance of normalcy as roads, schools and mass transit systems go back online.
President
Obama, who toured hard-hit New Jersey on Wednesday, warned that relief
efforts would take time, but promised that federal officials would cut
through "red tape and bureaucracy" to provide swift relief.
"At
this point, our main focus is on the state of New Jersey and New York,"
said Obama, flanked by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as they toured the
state's battered shoreline. "But we're very concerned about some
situations in Connecticut, and we're still monitoring West Virginia.
Those four states are really bearing the brunt of this incredible
storm."
Christie, an early supporter of Republican presidential
contender Mitt Romney, has been a leading party critic of Obama during
the campaign. But Christie's frequently blunt bombast was replaced by
effusive praise for Obama's response to the crisis.
"I cannot
thank the president enough for his personal concern and compassion for
the people of our state,'' Cristie said, as they met with storm victims.
Obama responded that Christie had put his "heart and soul" into response and recovery efforts.
While
losing its early intensity, the 900-mile-wide storm, now heading into
Canada, is expected to cause lingering problems across 17 states.
Flood-watch
warnings remain for northern New England and the northern Mid-Atlantic;
the National Weather Service has issued winter-storm warnings for the
central Appalachians, along with gale-force-wind and flooding advisories
across the lower Great Lakes.
The West Virginia mountains could
get up to 10 inches of snow, bringing totals up to 3 feet in places.
Surf conditions along the Atlantic, from Florida through New England,
are expected to remain dangerous through Friday.
Sandy has been
particularly destructive to New Jersey, where the storm ravaged coastal
cities and towns Monday night after making landfall near Atlantic City.
At least 14 state residents have died -- the latest Wednesday night,
when carbon monoxide leaking from a portable power generator apparently
caused the deaths of two sisters, ages 18 and 19, at a Trenton apartment
building. Residents say the generator was being used to provide
electricity.
Much of Hoboken, N.J., remains underwater after being
flooded by the Hudson River. An estimated 20,000 people were still
stranded in their homes, encouraged by city officials to stay there and
wait for supplies to reach them. Mayor Dawn Zimmer said floodwaters were
receding late Wednesday night, but the city was still without power.
"We
need more food, more water and more resources coming in,'' Zimmer said.
"We need more volunteer teams coming in and checking in on buildings.
Some
New Jersey towns, such as Middletown, were experiencing gas shortages
and shuttered service stations, forcing some motorists to wait hours to
fill up cars and portable generators. But fears of widespread shortages
and sharp price hikes have proved unfounded so far. The government is
temporarily waiving some Clean Air Act requirements
in 16 states
and the District of Columbia to reduce storm-related fuel disruptions,
which will allow conventional gasoline and blends to be sold instead of
cleaner-burning reformulated fuel.
Nearly 6 million homes and
businesses in at least 15 states and Washington, D.C., remain without
power - down from Tuesday's 8.5 million - as an army of more than 50,000
utility workers from across the country and Canada arrived to make
repairs. 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.
Wall Street managed to reopen for the first time since
Friday. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose five boroughs were ravaged
by death, destruction and flooding, rang Wednesday's opening bell. "It's good for the
city, good for country, it's good for everyone to get back to work," Bloomberg
told CNBC. Despite fears of high volume and a broad sell-off, trading was muted and key
indexes closed virtually unchanged.
Air
travel was rebounding after the storm caused more than 19,000
cancellations. Limited air service resumed Wednesday at New York's John
F.Kennedy International Airport and Newark International. LaGuardia
International was to open at 7 a.m. today. Amtrak plans to restore some
train service to New
York City on Friday, while some local subway and commuter rail traffic restarts
this morning.
Trying
to ease snarled post-storm traffic, Bloomberg said that cars entering
Manhattan between 6 a.m. and midnight Thursday and Friday must have at
least three people. Bloomberg announced the restriction partly in
response to major traffic jams that developed Wednesday as motorists tried to cross the Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queensboro
bridges to reach Manhattan.
National
Guard troops and local police were evacuating the last of 700 patients from New
York's flood-ravaged Bellevue Hospital to other hospitals and local shelters.
New York City schools remain closed through Friday.
While power grids were being restored, backup
batteries
and generators for cellphone towers are running out of juice. One of
every five towers was down Wednesday, according to the Federal
Communications Commission.
That - plus more people relying on cellphones to stay connected - overwhelmed
the system.
INTERACTIVE: Superstorm Sandy blasts eastern USA
IHS
Global Insight predicted Sandy will end up causing about $20 billion in
property damage and up to $30 billion in lost business. Another firm,
AIR Worldwide, estimated losses up to $15 billion - big numbers probably
offset by reconstruction and repairs that will contribute to
longer-term growth.
Across the storm region:
- In Connecticut, where more than 500,000 Connecticut Light & Power
customers
and 187,000 United Illuminating customers lost power at Sandy's peak,
there were still 378,000 outages Wednesday evening. In New Haven, a
103-year-old oak tree that fell during the storm revealed a skeleton
that may have been there since Colonial times. The tree was on the town
green, in an area where thousands were buried in the Colonial era.
-- Police in suburban Philadelphia say an early morning
electrical fire that killed two women is considered storm-related, bringing to
11
the number of statewide deaths linked to Sandy. About 600,000 residents
were still without power, down from 1.2 million at the peak of the
outages.
The Department of Environmental Protection, which regulates drinking water
and wastewater plants, said problems because of flooding or power loss were
widespread, particularly in eastern and central Pennsylvania. Boil water advisories were issued for several counties.
-
In West Virginia, utilities scrambled to restore power to hundreds of
thousands of customers amid snow storms and freezing temperatures. Poor
road conditions were hampering assessment efforts. The state's toll
climbed to at least six, including state delegate candidate John Rose,
killed by a falling tree limb as he was checking fences on his 100-acre
farm near Philippi. Snow drifts as high as five feet were reported in
Richwood. At least 36 state roads remain closed.
--- In Maine, the Port of Portland reopened, but ocean conditions remained dangerous with high
winds.
Amtrak's Downeaster resumed service. About 3,000 Central Main Power
customers were without electricity Wednesday night, down from a 90,000
peak.
--In northern Ohio, flood warnings remained for the
Cleveland lakeshore area as power crews were attemptingto restore power
to thousands of homes and businesses.
- In Wisconsin, dangerously high waves and flooding were expected along Lake Michigan.
-- In Kentucky, as much of a foot of snow blanketed the Appalachians.
Contributing: Kevin McCoy, Elizabeth Weise, William Welch, The Associated Press, Asbury Park Press