Power returns to lower Manhattan, but many waiting

Tested patience

Gasoline rationing has tested the patience of drivers - fist fights have broken out in mile-long lines of cars - and the National Guard has been called out to prevent looting.

"Hurricanes can be the stress equivalent of cancer," said David Yusko, assistant clinical director at the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety at the University of Pennsylvania.

Musician Christina Aguilera performs during Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together, a Red Cross telethon on NBC to benefit victims of Hurricane Sandy, the storm that killed more than 100 and devastated parts of the US Northeast, in New York, Nov 2, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

Music stars offered a diversion from the disaster with a televised benefit concert on Friday night featuring New Jersey natives Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi and Staten Island-born Christina Aguilera.

"We will not leave anyone behind," said Aguilera, whose native borough accounted for 22 of New York City's 40 deaths from the storm.

US President Barack Obama won early praise for the federal response to Sandy, but continued television and newspaper images of upset storm victims could hurt the Democrats, who is locked in a virtual draw with Republican challenger Mitt Romney going into Tuesday's election.

US President Barack Obama sits beneath a weather map as he talks to reporters after a briefing about operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, at FEMA headquarters in Washington, Nov 3, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

Before heading to the Midwest on Saturday for a final weekend of campaigning, Obama visited Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Washington for a briefing, and told officials to cut through government "red tape" to help storm-ravaged areas.

"There's nothing more important than getting this right," the president said at the beginning of a briefing with officials from FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security, and state and local governments.

Power restoration

Power utility Consolidated Edison, battling what it called the worst natural disaster in the company's 180-year history, restored electricity to Manhattan neighborhoods such as Wall Street, Chinatown and Greenwich Village in the pre-dawn hours, leaving 11,000 customers in Manhattan without service.

Con Ed said it had restored power to 70 percent of the 916,000 customers in the New York City area who were cut off.

"There's enough light and activity to get a lot of people on the street and get rid of that movie set look as if were in some kind of ghost town or horror movie," Con Ed spokesman Bob McGee told NY1 television.

In New Jersey, the utility PSE&G said 607,000 customers were still without lights after power to one million had been restored.

The US Coast Guard reopened New York Harbor on Friday, allowing tankers in and out.

Moving to ease fuel shortages, the Obama administration directed the purchase of up to 12 million gallons (45 million liters) of unleaded fuel and 10 million gallons (38 million liters) of diesel, to be trucked to New York and New Jersey for distribution.

The government announced it would tap strategic reserves for diesel for emergency responders and waived rules that barred foreign-flagged ships from taking gasoline, diesel and other products from the Gulf of Mexico to Northeast ports.

A cold snap in the New York City area was forecast early next week with daily low temperatures expected to drop into the upper 30s Fahrenheit (2-4 degrees Celsius).

"There's no heating oil around," said Vincent Savino, the president Statewide Oil and Heating, which usually supplies some 2,000 buildings across New York City. "I don't know how much fuel we have left: maybe a day or two."