The misery of superstorm Sandy's devastation has grown as millions along the US East Coast faced life without power or mass transit for days, and huge swaths of New York City remained eerily quiet.
The death toll climbed to 40, many of the victims killed by falling trees, and rescue work continued. The storm that made landfall in New Jersey on Monday evening with hurricane force cut power to more than 8.2 million across the East and put the presidential campaign on hold just one week before Election Day.
New York was among the hardest hit, with its financial heart closed for a second day. The storm caused the worst damage in the 108-year history of the city's subway system, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said it could be four or five days before the biggest US transit system was running again. "This was a devastating storm, maybe the worst that we have ever experienced," Mr Bloomberg said.
But the full extent of the damage in New Jersey was being revealed as morning arrived. Emergency crews fanned out to rescue hundreds. A hoarse-voiced New Jersey Governor Chris Christie gave bleak news at a morning news conference: Seaside rail lines washed away. No safe place on the state's barrier islands for him to land. Parts of the coast still under water. "It is beyond anything I thought I'd ever see," he said. "It is a devastating sight right now."
The death toll from Sandy in the US included several killed by falling trees. Sandy killed 10 people in New York City. It also killed 69 people in the Caribbean before making its way up the Eastern Seaboard. Airlines cancelled more than 15,000 flights. New York City's three major airports remained closed. Some bridges into the city reopened at midday, but most major tunnels and bridges remained closed, as were schools and Broadway theatres.
The storm sent a nearly 14ft surge of seawater, a record, coursing over Lower Manhattan's seawalls and highways and into low-lying streets. The water inundated tunnels, subway stations and the electrical system that powers Wall Street and sent hospital patients and tourists scrambling for safety. Skyscrapers swayed and creaked in winds that partially toppled a crane 74 stories above Midtown. A large tanker ship ran aground on the city's Staten Island.
At around midday, Sandy was about 120 miles east of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, pushing westward with winds of 45mph, and was expected to make a turn into New York State on Tuesday night. Although weakening as it goes, the storm will continue to bring heavy rain and flooding, said Daniel Brown of the National Hurricane Centre in Miami.
Sandy also brought blizzard conditions to West Virginia and neighbouring Appalachian states, with more than two feet of snow expected in some places.
Sandy will end up causing about 20 billion US dollars (£12.4 billion) in property damage and 10 billion to 30 billion more in lost business, making it one of the costliest natural disasters on record in the US, according to IHS Global Insight, a forecasting firm.
President Barack Obama declared a major disaster in New York and Long Island, making federal funding available to residents of the area. He suspended campaigning for a third day, and planned to join Mr Christie in viewing the damage in New Jersey. Republican challenger Mitt Romney resumed his campaign, but with plans to turn a political rally in Ohio into a "storm relief event."
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