Laura Michalchyshyn spent Tuesday walking the streets of New York, wondering along with everyone else when the storm-battered city will get back on its feet.

"There's a lot of people out on the streets … a lot of them holding up Blackberrys and cellphones, trying to get a signal," she told CBC News.

"No power means no signal."

Sandy, the hurricane turned fearsome superstorm, has become the most devastating storm in decades to hit the most densely populated region in the United States.

The night before, as Hurricane Sandy swept ashore, Michalchyshyn and her husband held a small dinner party "because I needed to empty the fridge," she explained.

A short time later, they saw a large flash from the ConEd power station explosion, which cut in the whole Lower East Side of Manhattan.

"The good news is that we have water and gas, so we are able to boil an egg," she said. After dinner, they jumped into a friend's sport-utility vehicle to tour the city.

"It was very surreal. You know, no lights, completely dark downtown, then you would see the odd flashlight and a lot of police," she said. Then near midnight, close to the site of the former World Trade Center site, they came upon the Ear Inn — a famous haunt of New York's firefighters — stubbornly staying open, using candles and serving customers sandwiches.

Michalchyshyn said residents in her neighbourhood have been told if may take four days to restore power.

However, she said people are calm. Since the events of Sept. 11, 2001, the city has become much better at dealing with disaster, she observed.