Hurricane Sandy made landfall near Atlantic City the evening of Monday Oct. 29 causing destruction up the Eastern Seaboard from North Carolina to Maine, with much of the damage centered in New York and New Jersey.

Hurricane Sandy Update

New York City

As the storm clouds parted for the first time in days, morning rush-hour traffic appeared thicker than normal as people slowly started to return to work in a New York without functioning subways. Cars were bumper to bumper on several major highways, according to Weather.com.

The New York Stock Exchange reopened after a rare two days closed. Mass transit began eking its way towards full service, with some bus service restored. As the subway system and some vehicle tunnels remained crippled by Sandy's record storm surge, buses have resumed partial service and are currently free. The city has also modified taxi rules, and is encouraging drivers to pick up more than one passenger at a time.

"Clearly, the challenges our city faces in the coming days are enormous," Bloomberg said Tuesday as officials warned that power might not be back until the weekend for hundreds of thousands of people in the city.

While some bus service resumed, and some bridges reopened, transit officials cautioned they couldn't predict when the subway would re-open. Hurricane Sandy caused the worst damage the system has ever suffered in its 108-year history.

Schools were once again closed Oct. 31.

Virtually everyone still without power in lower Manhattan, many residents have resorted to carrying flashlights and lanterns as they journeyed outside their homes.

While there were few signs that traffic was being directed by police through intersections with darkened stoplights, according to Weather.com, Bloomberg promised "a very heavy police presence" in the darkened neighborhoods, which include much of Manhattan south of the Empire State Building, from the East River to the Hudson River.

High-voltage systems experienced problems during the storm, forcing the utility to cut power the night of Oct. 30 to about another 160,000 customers in Brooklyn and Staten Island.

The power company, Consolidated Edison, predicted it would be days before the last of the hundreds of thousands of customers in Manhattan and Brooklyn who lost power have electricity again. For the Bronx, Queens, Staten Island and Westchester County, with even worse outages, it could take up to a week to restore service.

Atlantic City

Hurricane Sandy made landfall near Atlantic City, N.J., ripping up several blocks of its famous boardwalk, and tearing the roofs off casinos and hotels.

Atlantic City's dozen casinos were shuttered Oct. 30 as owners assessed damage to an already ailing gambling industry, which has defined the Jersey tourist destination for decades.

"We do have extensive damage to the roofs of some of the properties," said Gary Thompson, a spokesman for Caesars Entertainment in Las Vegas, Nevada, which operates four casinos in Atlantic City.

Thompson said workers were tallying "significant" damage to the upper floors of some of the casinos. He said crews might be able to patch up facilities with the goal of resuming business soon after the state lifts its emergency status.

"It is possible that hotels will reopen Thursday night and the casinos Friday morning. But those are very rough estimates," Thompson said.

Some industry experts were estimating millions of dollars in lost revenues for Atlantic City, according to Reuters.

David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Las Vegas, said he did not think there would be any longer term impact beyond a few days worth of lost business.

President Obama will travel to Atlantic City Oct. 31 to tour the storm's devastation in N.J. Mr. Obama will join Gov. Chris Christie in "talking with citizens who are recovering from the storm and thanking first responders who put their lives at risk to protect their communities."