Major flooding has prevented hundreds of thousands from returning to their homes.(REUTERS)
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Utility crews have hit the streets in the wake of Hurricane Sandy's devastation across New York City, as mopping up operations get underway. Manhattan was also one of the hardest hit areas.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Sandy might have been the most devastating ever experienced by the city with 18 confirmed deaths in New York alone.
Major flooding has prevented hundreds of thousands from returning to their homes with major thoroughfares completely underwater.
Sandy destroyed everything in her path. In flyover of the New Jersey coastline, there was devastation for kilometres - a region President Barack Obama will visit later today.
“My message to the federal government, no bureaucracy, no red tape, get resources where they're needed as fast as possible, as hard as possible and for the duration, because the recovery process for instance in a place like New Jersey is going to take a significant amount of time. The recovery process in a lower Manhattan is gonna take a lot of time”.
The Utility company is promising to restore power in four days.
Kevin Burke the CEO of Consolidated Edison says: “Hurricane Sandy was the worst storm in Consolidated Edison's history, it was an extraordinary event that's devastated our system and resulted in significant damages to our customers. But we've already begun to restore customers and we're continuing to access the damage to our system and our crew are working on pumping out water from many facilities.”
The New York Stock Exchange will reopen today, but the subway, schools and the United Nations remain closed.
Click below for Sherwin Bryce-Pease's live interview on the latest on Hurricane Sandy
