Faced with one of the most daunting recoveries imaginable, ravaged cities in the Northeast must now clean up waterlogged buildings, burned homes and crippled infrastructure — while millions of people remain without power.

Although some New York City ground transit and airports came back to life yesterday, much of the country’s biggest city remains paralysed. u00a0Meanwhile, New Jersey neighbourhoods were still deluged under feet of water ahead of US President Barack Obama’s scheduled visit to the state.