New York
"It's a tale of two cities," according to Paul Harris, the Guardian's US correspondent. "Everything above Lower Manhattan where there is power feels completely normal. It's busy, everything is open, including all the shops on Fifth Avenue. However, downtown is very different. Where there is no power there are few things open and indeed a lot residents – such as myself – have moved out to stay with friends.
"The subways are not running but cabs and buses are. New York is great for walking and the bridges between Manhattan and Brooklyn are open, as is the George Washington Bridge between Manhattan and New Jersey.
"Hotels will be very busy though. Some New Yorkers from downtown are staying in them and some have guests displaced from downtown hotels with no power.
Capital region
In Washington DC, roads are open and public transport has resumed; hotels are open and other local businesses and attractions were due to reopen today. All three airports – Dulles International, Reagan National, and BWI Marshall (in Baltimore) – were not damaged or flooded and are all open, although there are still flight delays (see below). Amtrak is still assessing its trains for the northeast corridor.
Boston
Boston wasn't hit nearly as hard as New York or New Jersey but there are hundreds of trees down, and a round-the-clock clean-up operation in place. No significant flooding was reported.
Atlantic City
James Clark, city desk editor at the Press of Atlantic City, said: "In the mainland communities debris is still being cleared after major wind and flood damage, and power lines are down. The city's 12 casinos remain closed, with no reopening date yet." Though Atlantic city airport, located in Egg harbor township is open, Clark said, "it could take weeks to get back to normal".
But it was the Barrier Islands, a major tourism destination in the summer months, which bore the brunt of the damage. Access to the islands has only just reopened today, meaning home-and business-owners are only now beginning to assess the damage to their properties, including B&Bs and guest houses. Seaside Heights and Long Beach Island – two major tourism destinations about 40 miles north of Atlantic City – also suffered major damage and tourism businesses will be affected.
Claims and compensation
Galling as it was for travellers who had to abandon their holidays due to flight cancellations this week, at least they know they will get their money back. Once flights resume, travellers who simply don't want to travel after seeing endless images of devastation, will have no chance of a refund or alternative trip.
"Your insurance policy won't cover you for disinclination to travel. If flights are going and you decide not to go, you won't be covered. That will pretty much be standard across all insurance policies," says Martin Rothwell, managing partner of World First Travel insurance (world-first.co.uk).
If you go and you are delayed as a result of adverse weather conditions, you can claim compensation for the first 12 hours; or if you're delayed for more than 24 hours you can claim for abandonment.
He said while insurers will not pay out, travellers who have booked accommodation separately may be able to cancel their booking at short notice, depending on the terms of the individual accommodation provider. "Some hotels will let you cancel up to the day of travel with no penalty," said Rothwell.
Flights update
Virgin
All flights (New York, Boston and Washington flights) – bar early morning flights VS18 from Newark and VS26 from JFK – are running as scheduled. The airline put on an extra flight from Heathrow to JFK to bring stranded customers back.
British Airways
BA restarted flights to Boston, Baltimore, Washington and Philadelphia this morning. It cancelled six flights today but plans to operate the remaining three to New York JFK and one to Newark later today.
A spokesman said: "Where we can, we are looking at putting on larger aircraft to help customers come back as quickly as possible." It has been offering customers the option to re-book at a later date.
American Airlines
All five flights from Heathrow and one from Manchester to JFK are cancelled on 31 October. A spokeswoman said: "We are hoping to resume services to JFK as normal tomorrow [1 November]."
United Airlines
The airline has partly resumed its service. Today, six flights to Newark and Washington are cancelled (four from Heathrow, one for Manchester and on from Edinburgh) but it has resumed two flights from Heathrow to Newark and two to Washington, as well as Belfast-Newark and Manchester-Washington.
Delta Airlines
All flights are departing as normal: three flights from Heathrow to JFK. Its flights to Detroit, Boston, Atlanta and Minneapolis operated as normal throughout.
More information
Meanwhile, travel website Gadling reports that some of its readers who have struggled to get through to airline customer services by phone have had better luck using Twitter
