Ravaged areas sputter back to life

There is destruction and heartache all around and numerous challenges remain, but areas on the East Coast are getting back to work. FULL STORY | MOM CAN'T GET HELP AS SONS DIE   | MEMORIES BLOWN AWAY  

Pockets of discontent among signs of recovery after Sandy

By Faith Karimi, CNN

November 2, 2012 -- Updated 1528 GMT (2328 HKT)

Obstacles and challenges after Sandy

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Firm estimates total economic damage at between $30 billion and $50 billion
• Superstorm Sandy kills 161 people overall, including 92 in the United States
• Challenges still remain, including fuel shortages and lack of electricity
• The New York City Marathon is still scheduled for Sunday

(CNN) -- Pockets of frustration among cold and hungry residents festered Friday, in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, even as other areas sputter back to life.

The biggest challenges in places like Staten Island -- where the majority of New York's storm-related deaths were recorded -- include food and electricity shortages.

Across 15 states and the District of Columbia, utilities reported about 3.3 million customers remained without power.

And people shivered, their heads peeking out from bulky sweatshirts, waiting hours at stations to fill their gas cans.

Four days had passed since Sandy hit, and survivors pleaded for basic necessities.

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In New York City, Donna Solli rode out the storm in her Staten Island home because she has an elderly dog. She told visiting officials she had not had much to eat.

"One slice of pizza in 48 hours," she loudly told officials in front of a pack of reporters. "We're going to die ... we're going to freeze. We got 90-year-old people. You don't understand. You gotta get your trucks down here on this corner now."

Sen. Chuck Schumer, who was touring the area, described conditions as grim.

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"This is the worst thing I've ever seen, and it's killing me what these people have to go through," said the Democratic senator from New York. "We'll get whatever federal help we can, that's for sure."

Help arrived Thursday night in the form of 10 Red Cross trucks filled with food, water and medicine.

Elsewhere, signs of recovery sprouted: trains grinding back to limited service, buses hauling commuters down roads strewn with debris.

Neighborhoods were rising up after being beaten down by a 900-mile-wide superstorm that claimed 161 lives -- including 92 in the United States.

The death toll also included two in Canada and 67 in the Caribbean.

Worst-hit New York state suffered 48 deaths, including 41 in New York City, authorities said.

In addition to the human toll, the price tag for total economic damage is stunning: between $30 billion and $50 billion, according to disaster modeling firm EQECAT.

That far exceeds EQECAT's pre-storm estimate which was just $20 billion.

In New York City's borough of Staten Island, the latest deaths included two boys ages 4 and 2, ripped from their mother's arms by floodwaters.

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Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and FEMA Deputy Administrator Richard Serino will travel to Staten Island on Friday to survey recovery efforts.

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Meanwhile, authorities scrambled to restore basic services, including hobbled transportation.

Amtrak said modified service resumes Friday between Boston and Washington via New York City. In New York City, limited subway service resumed Thursday. A flotilla of 4,000 buses is taking up the slack.

Neighboring New Jersey, which suffered 12 deaths linked to the storm, plans to restore limited rail service Friday.

In areas where entire neighborhoods remain dark, utilities worked to restore services.

New York City had nearly 500,000 customers without power, including 220,000 in Manhattan.

"We're doing our damnedest to get our power back as quickly as possible," said John Miksad, senior vice president of electric operations at Con Ed.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in a letter to utilities, warned of consequences if authorities discover they failed to prepare properly.

"Under such circumstances, I would direct the Public Service Commission to commence a proceeding to revoke your certificates," he wrote.

Organizers vowed to hold the New York City Marathon as scheduled on Sunday. Event organizer Mary Wittenberg said the race will not divert resources from the recovery.

The superstorm's wrath also dumped up to 3 feet of snow in West Virginia and Maryland, leaving thousands without power.

The National Weather Service predicted a nor'easter next week from the mid-Atlantic states into New England. But the forecast said the storm would be far weaker than Sandy.

A fizzled Sandy, meanwhile, swirled over Canada.

CNN's Tom Watkins, Mark Meinero and Melissa Gray contributed to this report.

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