Worst hit were New York City and
New Jersey, with fuel shortages the latest in a series of post-storm
challenges.
Campaigning for
Tuesday's presidential election - suspended earlier in the week - has fully
resumed.
New York Mayor
Michael Bloomberg endorsed President Barack Obama, citing his leadership on
climate change.
Mr Bloomberg said
Sandy could be evidence of climate change.
Of the two
candidates, he said, "one sees climate change as an urgent problem that
threatens our planet; one does not".
"I want our
president to place scientific evidence and risk management above electoral
politics."
Food hand-outs
Sandy arrived on
the US Atlantic coast on Monday night, bringing hurricane-strength winds,
flooding and blackouts.
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About 4.5 million
customers in 12 states are still without power.
The storm could
cost the US $50bn (£31bn), according to forecasting firm Eqecat, which has
doubled its previous estimate.
In New York,
where Sandy brought a record 14ft (4.2m) tidal surge, the National Guard is to
deliver a million meals and bottled water to residents affected by the storm.
In the
south-western New York City borough of Staten Island, at least 15 bodies have
been recovered.
The storm, one of
the biggest to hit the US in decades, swamped the low-lying district with tidal
surges, lifting whole houses off their foundations.
Anger is rising
there at the delay in bringing aid.
One resident,
Theresa Connor, told Reuters her neighbourhood had been
"annihilated".
"They forgot
about us... And Bloomberg said New York is fine. The marathon is on."
New York City
councilman James Oddo said: "If they take one first responder from Staten
Island to cover this marathon, I will scream."
Secretary of
Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Federal Emergency Management Agency
(Fema) official Richard Serino will visit the borough on Friday.
Petrol station
fights
Limited subway
services returned to New York on Thursday, though four of the seven train
tunnels under the East river remained flooded.
Fares on commuter
trains, subways and buses have been temporarily waived in a bid to entice
commuters off the traffic-choked roads.
Many of the
petrol stations in the city and the state of New Jersey remained closed. Fights
broke out amid long queues on forecourts.
Amtrak plans to
restart its East Coast service - the busiest train line in the US - on Friday.
In Hoboken, New
Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York City, some 20,000 people were
still trapped in their homes as floodwaters slowly receded.
Officials warned
residents not to walk in water polluted with sewage and chemicals.
Some 1.7 million
people remain without power in the state, where the National Guard is helping
with evacuations and meal distributions.
The cyclone also
caused havoc further inland.
The state of West
Virginia has seen up to 5ft of snow in some areas, after Sandy collided with
two winter weather fronts.
The number of
dead in the US now exceeds the toll from the Caribbean, where 69 people were
killed by Sandy.
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