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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