US military mobilises in wake of Sandy

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The United States military is mobilising to help restore power to New York City in the wake of deadly superstorm Sandy.

The former hurricane left more than 80 people dead in 15 states and caused massive power outages along America's east coast.

The Defence Department is sending 17 planes from California to New York loaded with power generation equipment and crews to help restore power.

Power should be back on in Lower Manhattan by the weekend, but other parts of New York City are expected to take another week.

The deployment of the C-5 and C-17 cargo aircraft is part of a wider effort by the military to aid local governments responding to the devastating storm.

The National Guard says its troops have rescued around 2,000 stranded residents from flooded homes in New Jersey in the past two days, employing trucks, boats and helicopters to help residents trapped in buildings inundated with storm surge waters.

The US Transportation Command, which usually handles the supplying and feeding of troops on the battlefield, has sent 55 trucks to New York loaded with 1.5 million meals and has 1.3 million additional meals ready to be delivered.

Nearly 10,000 National Guard forces have fanned out along the eastern seaboard, delivering generators and water pumps to flooded coastal communities, as well as rescuing motorists in the mountains of West Virginia, which saw heavy snowfall.

The US Navy has also ordered three amphibious ships to head towards the New Jersey coast in case local authorities need assistance with rescue efforts.

Sorry, this video has expired Video: Lisa Millar reports with the latest from Atlantic City (ABC News)

New Yorkers struggled to get to work on Thursday with a limited subway service only partially easing the city's traffic gridlock.

There were long lines for buses and police set up checkpoints to make sure anyone driving into New York had at least three people in the car.

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg was pleading for patience.

"Please bear with us, I know it's annoying, I know it's inconvenient, but we have to think about the security and safety of the people here," he said.

All three of New York's major airports are open again, though with limited flights.

Fuel shortages have also led to long lines of cars at filling stations in many states.

ABC/AFP

Topics: storm-event, weather, storm-disaster, disasters-and-accidents, united-states