Tens of millions of people in the Northeast U.S. braved traffic, gas lines and patchy public transit to return to work Wednesday after Sandy's destructive passage, while many others sought only to create a semblance of modern life without electricity, running water and hot showers.

The number of deaths attributed to Sandy rose Wednesday to at least 64, nearly half in New York City, as authorities identified new victims in flooded homes and vehicles. Some six million households and businesses remained without power Wednesday, and authorities warned it could take a week or more to restore service for many.

Floodwaters lingered in coastal communities from southern New Jersey to eastern Connecticut. In Hoboken, N.J., a city of about 50,000 across the Hudson River from Manhattan, hundreds of residents were stranded in apartment buildings cut off from help by streets waist-high in contaminated water.

'This is historic,' said Mayor Dawn Zimmer. 'We are trying to reach everyone as quickly as we can.'

Authorities began to inventory the hundreds of oceanfront homes on New Jersey's coast that were washed away, flooded or burned. President Barack Obama surveyed some of the damage Wednesday with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

'The entire country has been watching what's been happening. Everybody knows how hard Jersey has been hit,' Mr. Obama said at a shelter set up in the Brigantine Beach Community Center in Brigantine, N.J. 'The country comes to help because you never know when someone is going to get hit by a disaster.'

In New York City, fires burned in Queens and looters sacked storm-ravaged businesses in Brooklyn and Long Island. Staten Island residents who had fled the storm returned Wednesday. 'We lost everything,' said Jake Akhsanov, his home submerged in seven feet of water.

Closed subways in New York City, along with stalled rail service that normally connects the metropolis with the rest of the world, created a traffic gridlock in much of Manhattan. Commuters jockeyed for taxis and seats on buses that inched along. Many gave up and walked.

Moving-van driver Derrick Mazyck, 32 years old, spent three hours getting from Brooklyn to a job on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He managed seats on two buses through Brooklyn but walked over a bridge into Manhattan, where buses were too full to bother stopping. He was on foot for 50 blocks when he luckily spotted a company truck and got a lift.

'I gotta do what I gotta do,' said Mr. Mazyck. 'It might be crazy but I have to work today.' Limited rail and subway service in New York was scheduled to resume by Thursday morning, officials said.

Homeowners and businessowners who suffered flooding in Sandy's record storm surge in flood zones spent much of the day either grieving or rolling up their sleeves.

In South Beach, Staten Island, resident Grace Johnson clenched her fists and waved her arms in the air as she ran toward a college student from Queens who had come to see the damage and stood across the street taking photos.

'Jesus Christ, will you stop please,' she shouted, her eyes welling and voice cracking with emotion. 'Why don't you come over here and help sweep