Cold spell hits Sandy victims as fuel shortages bite

Victims of superstorm Sandy on the US east coast struggled against the cold early yesterday amid fuel shortages and power outages even as officials fretted about getting voters displaced by the storm to polling stations for tomorrow’s presidential election.

Overnight on Saturday, near-freezing temperatures gripped the US northeast. At least two more victims were found in New Jersey, one dead of hypothermia, as the overall death toll from one of worst storms in US history climbed to at least 112.

Fuel supplies continued to rumble toward disaster zones and electricity was slowly returning to darkened neighbourhoods after a storm that hit the coast last Monday. New York mayor Michael Bloomberg said it would be days before power is fully restored and fuel shortages end.

Bloomberg on Friday abruptly called off the city’s marathon, which was set for yesterday, bowing to criticism that the event would divert resources from flood-ravaged areas.

Hundreds of runners planned informal runs to deliver food and clothes to the borough of Staten Island and elsewhere.

Power restorations over the weekend relit the skyline in Lower Manhattan for the first time in nearly a week and allowed 80% of the New York City subway service to resume. Some 2.5m homes and business still lacked power across the northeast on Saturday, down from 3.5m on Friday.

Temperatures dipped to 39 Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) early yesterday morning in New York City, the lowest in days, with below-freezing temperatures expected today. An early- season “Nor’easter” storm was expected to hit the battered New England coast this week.

President Barack Obama, neck-and-neck in opinion polls with Republican challenger Mitt Romney, ordered emergency response officials to cut through government “red tape” and work without delay to help affected areas return to normal.

Officials have expressed concern about getting voters displaced by Sandy to polling stations for tomorrow’s election. Scores of voting centres were rendered useless by the record surge of seawater in New York and New Jersey.

New Jersey is allowing voters displaced by Sandy to vote by email. Some voters in New York could be casting their ballots in tents.