WBRZ - Baton Rouge

NEW YORK - Polar air has settled in earnest over the Northeast, grinding trains to a halt, bursting pipes and bringing further misery to families still trying to recover from Superstorm Sandy.

The frigid air mass trekked from the Midwest into the region on Wednesday, prompting the National Weather Service to issue wind chill warnings across upstate New York and northern New England.

In a damaged neighborhood near the beach on New York City's Staten Island, people who haven't had heat since the late October storm are taking refuge in tents set up by aid workers.

Eddie Saman is sleeping in a tent because the gaping hole in the roof of his home has rendered it uninhabitable - and unheatable.

The coldest weather is expected to continue into Thursday.