Millions of people across the United States north east have been assessing the enormous extent of destruction following last night's super-storm.

 

At least 32 people were killed,  over 7 million are without power and the damage is estimated to be in the tens of billions of dollars.

 

New York City has been declared a major disaster area with the subway system having been flooded.  Nelson's Elsa Neufeld-Cumming - a dance student in the city - says the state of the ageing transit system will be the biggest issue for most people as they look to get back to normal.  She says it's 108 years old and is pretty rugged already - she can't even go back to school until the trasit system is fixed

 

Neufeld-Cumming followed instructions to stay inside during the storm and her mid-town area was not badly affected.  But she was expecting to get plenty of visits from friends who have no power so they can charge their cell phones and lap-tops.

 

And it's become apparent that the southern tip of Manhattan has suffered huge damage while other areas have been unscathed.

 

Nelson's Aaron Bell - who's a lawyer living and working in the Mid-Town area - says a few blocks make a big difference, with people about 12 blocks away from him losing power.  It may take a week to restore power to the worst hit areas.

 

Meanwhile Bell says one of the few threats in his area of the city remains the crane that collapsed on top of a skyscraper still under construction.  He says the crane is essentially dangling off of the top of the building and doesn't appear like it's going to move now that winds have calmed down.