NEW YORK, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Power has begun to return to homes and businesses in lower Manhattan four days after Hurricane Sandy tore up the lives and livelihoods of many in the Northeast.

Consolidated Edison had promised to restore power by Saturday to all of Manhattan, The New York Times reported Saturday.

Hundreds of thousands of residents were still without power Friday.

The power company said restoring service to customers outside of Manhattan could take until mid-November. More than 500,000 customers of the Long Island Power Authority have no estimate yet when they will get their electricity back.

Region-wide, more than a million customers spent another night in the dark Friday. While more than a million customers in New Jersey had power by Friday morning, about 1,285,000 didn't. In Connecticut, only about 140,000 customers were still without power.

Sandy delivered the worst of its beating to the New Jersey coast, where Gov. Chris Christie has described the damage as "unthinkable," CNN reported.

While some residents have received food and water from aid agencies, many have still had to devise their own ways to deal with the loss of their normal way of life. One woman cooked her thawing food on the barbecue grill and charged her cellphone on her car's battery. One man eats and showers the homes of friends who have power. Another says he has eaten at restaurants every evening.