More than 160,000 people were still without power Monday in 10 states and the District of Columbia. Most of them are in New York and New Jersey.
Long Island Power Authority restored electricity to 1.1 million residents Monday morning, but 70,000 others remained in the dark. Of those customers, 46,300 are mostly along Long Island's south shore and Rockaway Peninsula. Those customers had water damage to electrical panels and wiring, which will require inspection and possibly repairs before power can be turned back on.
LIPA has been criticized in the past, mostly with its handling of Tropical Storm Irene last year. LIPA is mostly blaming their response to Sandy on circumstances beyond their control.
"We certainly understand the frustration that's out there," LIPA's chief operating officer, Michael Hervey, said in a conference call late Sunday. But, he said, the storm had been worse than expected, no utility had as many workers in place beforehand as it would have liked, and the power was coming back rapidly "compared to the damage that's been incurred."
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is expected to ask for at least $30 billion in federal disaster aid to rebuild.
Thanks to an increase in supply, New Jersey is expected to end its odd-even gasoline rationing Tuesday morning; New York's gasoline rationing is still in place.
A nor'easter dumped more than a foot of snow in New Jersey on Thursday, leaving more than 2,200 homes in Manchester, N.J. without power and forcing more than 2,000 flight cancellations across the country.
Sandy killed more than 100 people in 10 states, with most of the victims in New York and New Jersey.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
