Towns in New York area still dark and isolated 5 days after Sandy NEW YORK, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Life was returning to normal in parts of New York and New Jersey, five days after Hurricane Sandy hit, but other areas were dark and isolated, authorities said. Residents of many beach towns on the South Shore of Long Island were waiting for power to be restored, and even for some sign someone was in charge, The New York Times reported. Vikki Quinn's house in Long Beach was flooded and her possessions were piled in the yard. "I just keep waiting for someone with a megaphone and a car to just tell us what to do," she told the Times. I'm lost. President Barack Obama convened a meeting of top emergency officials in Washington, with governors Chris Christie of New Jersey, Andrew Cuomo of New York and Dannel Malloy of Connecticut joining by telephone. Deputy White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters members of the Cabinet reported on their meetings with local official, first responders and citizens, and the president spoke individually during the meeting with the governors and local officials, asking whether there are "additional federal resources that could be brought to bear to meet some of the needs in their communities." Earnest said the president also got a briefing from the National Weather Service on a storm forecast to reach the U.S. Northeast Wednesday. Forecasters said the system could come with high winds, substantial rainfall and perhaps cooler temperatures. Lights were back on Saturday in most of Manhattan. Subway trains began running between Manhattan and the Long Island boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens for the first time since the storm flooded the tunnels under the East River, the Times said. Cuomo said about 60 percent of those in New York who lost power had it back by Saturday. On Long Island, however, more than half of the 1.2. million homes and businesses affected by the storm were still in the dark. "We are getting through it," Cuomo said at a news briefing. The worst is behind us. Gas remained in short supply. Cuomo said 8 million gallons had been delivered, with 28 million more expected from commercial sources and 12 million from the Defense Department. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and other top officials planned to visit some of the worst-hit areas following the meeting with Obama. Napolitano, who spent Friday on New York's Staten Island, was slated to go to West Virginia and Long Island; Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will visit New York's Brooklyn and Manhattan; Karen Mills, head of the Small Business Administration, will go to Connecticut's Norwalk and Bridgeport; and Shaun Donovan, secretary of Housing and Urban Development, will be in New York's Rockaways and Breezy Point. Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan will tour Staten Island, as well as the New Jersey cities of Hoboken, Newark and Jersey City. As of Friday afternoon, more than 98,000 people in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut had registered for federal assistance and more than $40 million in aid has been approved, a statement by the Federal Emergency Management Agency said. Consolidate Edison is have engineers in big buildings in Manhattan disconnect the buildings from the grid if significant damage has been done to the electrical system, Bloomberg said. The number of residences and businesses without power as of Friday night was 95,000 in Manhattan; 26,000 in the Bronx; 34,000 in Brooklyn; 84,000 in Queens and 48,000 in Staten Island, the New York Daily News reported. In New Jersey, Christie allowed Atlantic City casinos to reopen Friday. New Jersey Transit began running trains on the Northeast Corridor between Trenton and New York and said most buses were running again by Saturday morning. Other rail lines remained shut down. Since Thursday, they distributed about 290,000 meals and nearly a half-million bottles of water, Bloomberg said.