NYPD police officers stand on devastated Rock
NYPD police officers stand on devastated RockReuters

The death toll from Hurricane Sandy has risen to 74 in the United States alone, with more than half of the victims from New York and New Jersey. The overall death toll from the storm on Thursday stood at 124, with at least one in Canada, and 67 in the Caribbean.

Hundreds are homeless, after pounding rain, floods and whipping winds tore through houses and ripped them apart all through the Eastern Seaboard and then across part of the Midwest as well, before moving up into the Great Lakes.

With the weekend fast approaching, more than 4.8 million households were still without electricity on Thursday morning in 15 states.

Hardest hit were New Jersey, with nearly two million households still without power, and New York, with 1.5 million reportedly still in the dark -- including more than half a million in New York City alone. In Pennsylvania, half a million households were also without electricity, and in Connecticut, some 352,000 households were without power as well.

The outages affect families' ability to maintain not only light and communications, but also heat in their homes, and to keep perishable food safe. At least four hospitals in New York City alone were forced to evacuate patients due to failed generators.

The forecast from the National Weather Service for the weekend predicts low temperatures for the weekend, with a cold night on Thursday in New York City, dipping down to 44 degrees Farenheight. On Friday night, it could drop as low as 40 degrees Farenheit, and 37 degrees on Saturday night.