With Hurricane Sandy now claiming the lives of more than 40 people in America and Canada and millions of people without power, the cost is being counted. The White House in Washington DC looked very soggy but intact, which is more than can be said for this nearby neighbourhood with fallen trees strewn across the road and power lines down in various places. Emergency crews were out in force trying to remove debris and make roads passable again. Many people say they were lucky.

Man says "We were quite pleased to see the PEPCO (power company) folks out here first thing this morning, and we also think we are really lucky to have everybody safe and have the crews already here."

Man says "We have an office out here about two blocks away, it's a lot of leaks. We have trash cans and shower curtains and everything else to protect, it's an architectural firm so we are protecting all our drawings, computers, and things like that."

Meanwhile the President gave his condolences and said the storm's not over yet.

We've gotten briefings from the National Hurricane Center, it is still moving north, there are still communities that could be affected and so I want to emphasize there are still risks of flooding, there are still risks of downed power lines, risks of high winds, and so it is very important for the public to continue to monitor the situation in your local community, listen to you state and local officials, follow instructions. The more you follow instructions the easier it is for our first responders to make sure that are dealing with true emergency situations."

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the families who have lost loved ones unfortunately there have been fatalities as a consequence of Hurricane Sandy and its' not clear we've counted up all the fatalities at this point. Obviously this is something that is heartbreaking for the entire nation."

The death toll may yet rise in the coming hours as many towns and cities start the very earliest stages of damage assessment. Today the President will tour New Jersey with the Mayor. And no doubt also at the back of his mind is whether or not next Tuesday's Presidential elections can go on whilst huge swathes of the country he runs is in turmoil.

Written and presented by Marverine Cole