Guns drawn at the gas pumps, massive lines in the middle of the night: Drivers turn violent in scramble for precious fuel

Frayed tempers: Armed police tackle violence at a gas station in Brooklyn, after one customer accused another of cutting in line

Misery: Drivers get to gas stations as early as they can can to beat the crowds, but the crisis could go on for another week

Drained: Fuel tankers have been diverted to the Port of Virginia, and immediate relief is still some way off

Pushing through: A police officer moves a car that is completely out of gas, trying to position it so it can fill up at a gas station in Brooklyn, New York

Road block: Passing motorists are accidentally finding themselves in line, and getting accused of cutting

In the dark: Station managers in the borough haven¿t been told specifics, only that they hope to have fuel deliveries by early next week

Country in turmoil: The latest update on the after-effects of Sandy

Lights out: Without power, many gas stations have had to close because they can't pump fuel into customers' cars

Busy: An Instagram user shares a picture of their local station

Limited options: Police tape blocks the entrance to a fuelling station where people wait in line

Waste of time: Many of the queues were more than three hours long

Tough competition: Lines began forming today at around 5am

Budget choice: A man squats down to fill up his gas can at a Hess fuelling station in Brooklyn

Everyone's affected: Twitter, Instagram and Facebook have been inundated with evocative pictures of people coping with low fuel supplies

Struggle: President Obama sent 250,000 gallons of gas and 500,000 gallons of diesel fuel via the Department of Defense

Powerless: Drivers are forced to travel to find open gas stations. Many have yellow tape wrapped over their pumps

Anger: State officials have has help from the Red Cross and the National Guard - but it is still not enough

Killing time: Residents of downtown neighborhoods have had to rely on crowded buses or taxis to get around, though the latter may not be an option in days to come

All aboard: Mohammad Ullah fills up his gypsy cab from a gas container while others wait on a line

Heavy work: A police officer, right, helps Jason Bravo push an out-of-gas van into a station in Brooklyn

Which direction? A New York City Police officer directs traffic at a Hess fuelling station in Brooklyn

Some lines are miles long and many have had to stop using their cars because their tanks are empty

Fuel rage: A police officer attempts to break up the row amid escalating anger over the gas shortage

Keeping control: The fuel rationing in the tri-state area is having a huge knock-on effect, and police and National Guard troops are now providing security at gas stations

Drafted in: A police officer watches as people wait in line to fill their gas containers after Superstorm Sandy closed most gas stations in Allenhurst, New Jersey

Friction: Residents argue for their place in line while waiting to get fuel at a gas station in the New York City borough of Queens. State troopers have been drafted in to maintain order in some areas

Patrick DeHaan, a senior analyst at Gasbuddy.com, told Forbes that there was no shortage of fuel. 

One problem is that some gas stations have no power to pump the fuel, while others where the pumps worked were running out as word spread among motorists. 

Throughout New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, gas is running out, and many stations within the city are additionally crippled, as they have no power.

Hundreds of people in need of petrol have queued up in hopes of buying as many gallons as possible, both for cars and heating.

Some having been siphoning gas out of cars to fuel generators, CBS Local reported.

Families in Staten Island, one of the hardest-hit communities in New York, begged the authorities to give them gasoline, food and clothing, according to ABC News.

'We’re going to die!' Donna Solli told visiting officials. 'We’re going to freeze! We got 90-year-old people! You gotta get your trucks down here on the corner now. It’s been three days!'

Staten Island officials blasted the Red Cross for not being there when it counted, yesterday asking when supplies would come.

The Red Cross and the National Guard arrived in the area late Tuesday, but many have still not had the help they desperately need.

City in chaos: Children play on the ground during the long wait to get to one of the gas stations still operating

Dry at the pumps: A police officer holds caution tape after a gas station ran out of fuel in the Brooklyn borough of New York

None here: A New York City police officer explains to a driver that a gas station on the west side of Manhattan has run out of fuel

Staten Island Borough President Jim Molinaro said yesterday: 'This is America, not a third world nation. We need food, we need clothing

'My advice to the people of Staten Island is: Don’t donate the American Red Cross. Put their money elsewhere.'

Jude Labarca, who is staying with his mother on the Upper East Side because power was out at his Staten Island home, said he had to drive to five stations before finding one that had any gas.

After a 20-minute wait, he said he put about $50 worth into his Mercedes convertible at an out-of-the-way Gulf station in Sunset Park, which was only accepting cash.

'The guy in front of me didn’t have any cash, so he was calling his work to have someone run cash over to him. He was holding up the line,' said Mr Labarca, 45.

'If stations don't get some soon, that's really what is going to drive this city to a halt.'

Tarique Shoman, 23, and Diego Diaz, 21, drove from Staten Island to Brooklyn in search of gas.

'I'm pretty p****d,' said Mr Shoman, while sitting at a depleted Getty station in Sunset Park. 'We've already gone to four gas stations.'

After the initial shock of the superstorm, some New Yorkers at least are already back to business.

Hollywood star Bette Midler threw an extravagant celebrity 'Hulaween' party on Wednesday night in the storm-struck city.

Meanwhile, fuel supplies into the tri-state area were being choked off in several ways.

All smiles: A group beam with happiness after they reach the front of the line

Trying to stock up: People line up to fill gas containers at the New Jersey Turnpike's Thomas A. Edison service area, near Woodbridge

All ages: A girl holds jerry cans while waiting in line at a gas station in Hazlet township, New Jersey

Running on empty: A man lifts a jerry can over his head to see if there is any gasoline left at a gas station in Hazlet township, New Jersey

Two refineries that make up a quarter of the region's refining capacity are still idle due to power outages or flooding; the New York Harbor waterway that imports a fifth of the area's fuel is still closed to traffic, and major import terminals are damaged and powerless.

Once gas terminals have their electricity back this weekend, they have a list of critical locations that are a top priority, from hospitals to refineries. 

Those in New Jersey who already received the brunt of Sandy’s force formed increasingly long lines at the pumps, toting red plastic fuel canisters.

Many in the state need the gas for both their cars and to heat their homes, FoxNews.com reported.

Jim Gannon, of the Transport of Workers Union Local 100, told MailOnline that there were ‘concerns’ over the ability of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority to keep its buses on the road.

‘Every depot has its own gas tank, and a portion of the fleet runs on compressed national gas.’ But, he said, it is unclear how long the MTA’s fuel reserve will last.

‘Obviously, it won’t last forever,’ he said, adding that he knows the public transit system has enough to last them for tomorrow at least.

Crisis situation: Twitter users have been reporting on the chaos at service stations - when they have any cell phone battery to spare

Power out: Authorities are being tested by dangerously dwindling gas supplies amid massive blackouts

Deserted: Many stations are out of action because they have no power to operate the pumps

Patient: Residents hold containers while waiting for hours to get fuel from a gas station in the New York City borough of Queens

Hanging around: A man talks on a cell phone as he waits with others for fuel in Queens, New York City

Weary: Long queues for fuel formed at this Gulf gas station in Manalapan, New Jersey

Little helper: Kora Ferrone, carries a five-gallon gas can as she assists her father, Chris Ferrone, in line at a station in Toms River, New Jersey

Queuing for gas: A long line of people wait to purchase gasoline for their cars and generators, at a gas station in Point Pleasant, New Jersey

Masses: People needing to get back to work in New Jersey queue at a gas station in Point Pleasant

Stressful: Families are stockpiling gas, unsure of when supplies will revive and unable to rely on the public transport system

An MTA representative did not immediately respond to MailOnline’s request for comment.

Earlier, the MTA, which reopened a limited subway service yesterday, said it had supplies to keep its packed buses running.

‘We are not having any issues with fuel at this point,’ MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said. ‘We are still getting deliveries of fuel to our depots,’ he added.

In Gowanus, Brooklyn, drivers fought over fuel at a Getty station. One man, Abdul Rahim Anwar told Reuters he needed the fuel to power a generator that gave him electricity.

Endless: Cars wait in long lines at a Sunoco gas station on the Garden State Parkway in Montvale, New Jersey

Sign of the times: Motorists hoping to fill up at a Sunoco gas station on the Garden State Parkway in Montvale, New Jersey, had no choice but to stop and wait

Congested: Cars queue bumper to bumper as they approach a gas station in Toms River, New Jersey, after fuel stocks were depleted following Superstorm Sandy

Chris Delman, 30, saw a photograph of his house in a local newspaper Wednesday, noticing it was still standing.

‘We ain't living in Seaside no more, that's obvious,’ Delman said. ‘I just want to know what I have left.’

In addition, much of lower Manhattan remains in the dark following an explosion at a Consolidated Edison Inc substation on the East River during the storm. 

ConEdison said on Thursday it could be another two days until electricity is restored in downtown Manhattan.

Looters have taken advantage of the confusion and desperation by dressing as Con Edison workers and breaking into houses on the pretext that they were doing electrical repairs, according to Voice Russia. Sushko reports that around 15 people have been arrested for looting.

Residents of downtown neighborhoods have had to rely on crowded buses or taxis to get around, though the latter may not be an option in days to come.

Across New York's five boroughs and the northern suburbs of Westchester, ConEdison said 659,400 homes and businesses still had no power.

Ralph Bombardiere, executive director of the New York State Association of Service Stations and Repair Shops, told Reuters that 'over 50 per cent of service stations are not able to sell gasoline and it could be up to 75 per cent.’ 

Sal Risalvato, executive director of the N.J. Gasoline, Convenience, Automotive Association, told CNBC that an estimated 75 per cent or more of the gas stations in New Jersey were closed.

Filling up: A gas station attendant fills a customer's Jerry cans with gasoline in Hazlet township, New Jersey, after the devastation of Sandy

Getting back on their feet: New Jersey residents contiue to cope with widespread damage and region-wide power outages resulting from Hurricane Sandy, by filling up with gas

Throughout the area, people are feeling the fuel crunch, and it is unlikely that the problem will be solved any time soon.

In addition, the main oil pipeline from the Gulf Coast, which pumps 15 per cent of the East Coast's fuel, remained shut.

The scarcity of fuel, electricity and supplies made cleanup more daunting for barrier towns such as Seaside Heights, part of the Jersey Shore.

Seaside Heights residents who obeyed the mandatory evacuation order were cut off from their homes.

The entire community was submerged by the storm surge that washed over the island and into the bay that separates it from the mainland.

‘The bay met the ocean,’ said Frank Meszaros, 43, standing next to the closed bridge that kept him from returning home.

Supervision: So many motorists wish to fill up that state troopers have been dispatched to gas stations along the New Jersey turnpike

‘New York City (gasoline delivery) terminals have power problems. For the individual stations, if they have product they don't have power and many, if they have power, don't have any product.’.

Zipcar Inc, a car-sharing company that rents out vehicles at an hourly or daily rate, said it would waive the usual charges for the late return of cars in New York because of traffic or fuel shortages.

‘Any members who are willing to wait in line for fuel, we're willing to waive any late fees,’ said Dan Curtin, Zipcar's vice president of fleet operations in Boston.

The firm is offering members in New York and New Jersey discounts until Friday..

Desperate measures: Chris Zaturoski uses a garden hose to attempt to siphon gasoline from his car to use in a generator at his New Jersey house which is without power in the wake of superstorm Sandy

Gridlock: Traffic is gridlocked on the Long Island Expressway into Manhattan near the turn off for the Queensboro Bridge as commuters try to get back to work after Sandy

In New Jersey, power company Public Service Enterprise Group Inc (PSEG) said 780,000 homes and businesses were still without electricity, about 35 percent of its customers, down from 1.7 million impacted at the peak.

On Wednesday, gasoline retailer associations said more than 80 percent of service stations in New Jersey were shut.

At 8am EDT on Thursday on Route 18 in East Brunswick, New Jersey, a Hess facility was the only gas station open for miles.

A line of more than 100 cars waited in the highway's southbound left lane, while dozens of residents on foot lined up on the sidewalk, holding plastic gas cans.

In Hoboken, a New Jersey town on the Hudson River, gas has become an especially precious commodity since it can be used to power the pumping of sewage water out of basements and homes.

At one building, a resident went door to door until she found a neighbor willing to siphon gas from his car to fuel the pumps.

VIDEO: See the effects of the gas shortage here...