- Thousands evacuate to avoid surging rivers in Northeast
- The Passaic River hits record levels
- Many communities in Vermont remain isolated
- Vermont is ready to "rebuild" and "carry on," resident says
(CNN) -- The size of the task still at hand began to sink in Wednesday as states in the Northeast struggled to rebuild roads and bridges, restore power and tame waterways still coursing with floodwaters brought by Hurricane Irene.
Vermont, New Jersey and upstate New York endured some of the worst flooding.
The Passaic River in northern New Jersey seemed to mock the town of Little Falls as the water surging through it looked more like Niagara Falls.
"Before Irene hit, the Passaic River was already running high from frequent precipitation this summer," Wheeler Antabanez of neighboring Montclair said. "When the hurricane blew through and dumped all that water on north Jersey, the river began to rage."
About 1,700 residents have been evacuated from their homes in Wayne, Towa, Little Falls, Paterson and Woodland Park communities, said Edward O'Connell, a spokesman for Passaic County's Office of Emergency Management.
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Irene, from sunrise to sunset in New YorkRescuers pulled families and pets alike from their homes Tuesday, using rafts to transport them down the county's flooded roads.
"It's been pretty much 24 hours a day," said Sgt. Alex Popov of the Paterson, New Jersey, Police Department.
Flood advisories were still in place for large sections of the state, as well as portions of Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Virginia and North Carolina.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate will travel to New Jersey and New York Wednesday to check on local recovery and response efforts.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie surveyed some of the damage and told reporters on Tuesday that he had seen "extraordinary despair."
More than 1,300 people throughout the state are in shelters, he said, though that number is likely to rise as additional areas are evacuated.
An estimated 2.85 million customers remained without power Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Energy said. That included more than half a million each in Connecticut and New York, more than 400,000 in Virginia, more than 300,000 in New Jersey and more than 250,000 in Maryland.
Nearly 6.7 million customers initially were left without power by the storm, the department said.
Also Tuesday, the death toll stemming from Irene continued to rise. At least 43 deaths were linked to the storm, from Florida to North Carolina to New England.
The full extent of Irene's destruction won't be known for some time. The federal government estimates that the cost from wind damage alone will exceed $1 billion. Analysts have put the total expected cost of Irene much higher.
Several Vermont towns remained inaccessible by roads early Wednesday, despite progress by state road crews which struggled to patch dozens of bridges and highway segments washed out by Irene.
"Our top priority continues to be establishing emergency access to the isolated communities, while simultaneously developing plans for temporary and permanent repairs throughout the system," Brian Searles, Vermont's transportation chief, said.
In Grafton, Vermont, 800 residents were stranded. "It's one massive mess," said Tara Taylor, who came out of Grafton to nearby Rockingham, along with her family. "There's no words to describe this."
While part of Grafton has maintained electricity, much of the town is running on generators, she said. But as far as she knew, people were well, and no one had been hurt, Taylor said.
"We've been very lucky with this," she said
Lucky, but still a shock to the system for many in the state -- even in the north where the flooding was less severe.
"The mood among Vermonters is one of disbelief, sadness," said Chris Brosky, "but a motivation to rebuild and carry on."
CNN iReport's Germain Perez and Katie Hawkins-Gaar contributed to this report.
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