As if dealing with the impact of devastating storm surges, drenching rains and potent winds weren't hard enough, hundreds of thousands in New York and northern New Jersey battled a new adversary Saturday night: the cold.

The National Weather Service forecast temperatures would dip into the 30s in Belle Harbor, New York, and Cape May, New Jersey. And even after the sun rises Sunday, residents may be lucky if the thermostat tops 50 degrees.

For many, keeping warm isn't simply a matter of turning on the heat, after Superstorm Sandy knocked out gas lines and electricity. Some 2.4 million people had no power for a fifth straight day Saturday, their patience running low, along with the temperatures.

Several residents in the Rockaways, in Queens, vented their frustrations at New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as he toured the area Saturday. One woman yelled, "When are we going to get some help!" while a man talked about "old ladies in my building who have got nothing."

Supplementing and, in some cases, dissatisfied with the government response, neighbors and volunteers from afar to hard-hit areas Saturday to offer food, clothing and whatever else to those who are still cold and hungry.

"We covered two children with a blanket freezing and shivering here trying to get food last night," Rockaway resident Lauren O'Connor told CNN affiliate NY1. "We said we had to do something."

At a Saturday news conference, Bloomberg admitted he'd encountered many who were "worried and frustrated and cold" and urged those without electricity to go to a shelter or find another "warm place" to stay.

"Please, I know sometimes people are reticent to take advantage of services -- the cold really is something that is dangerous," he said.

For all the continued problems, however, many residents and officials also could point to progress Saturday. More public transit services were back running, fewer people were out of power, and even the days-long gas shortage showed signs of abating.

"We need to continue to focus now on the next phase -- returning to normalcy," New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said restoring electricity is the top priority, reiterating Saturday that his state will hold utilities accountable if they weren't prepared for Sandy. More than 835,000 customers were in the dark statewide by mid-afternoon.

One of New York's top utilities, Con Edison, has restored power to all but 270,000 of its initially 940,000 customers affected by the storm, Senior Vice President John Miksad said. Bloomberg praised that company, while blasting the Long Island Power Authority -- which services the Rockaway peninsula -- for not having "acted aggressively enough."

"We realize that LIPA has outages throughout Long Island, but the Rockaways were the hardest hit by the storm," he said, adding that the utility indicated it could take two weeks to restore power there. "When it comes to prioritizing resources, we think they should be first in line. So far that has not appeared to be the case, and that is certainly not acceptable."

LIPA did not immediately respond Saturday night to CNN requests for comment on the mayor's criticism. But the utility's official Twitter feed was active, with promises of extra crews and that 90% of its customers should have power by late Wednesday.

Both Bloomberg and Cuomo praised the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for restoring 80% of subway services in New York City. The mayor said it should be up to 90% by Sunday.

"Not only did they try hard, but they got it done," Cuomo said.

Powering cars and trucks is another issue, as evidenced by long lines at gas stations around the region.

Christie noted that about 70% of gas stations from Interstate 195 and points north weren't operating Saturday -- not necessarily because they did not have gas, but because they couldn't pump it due to power outages. (By comparison, about 95% of stations south of Interstate 195 were working, he said.)

In Suffolk County on New York's Long Island, Leah Cepeda-Winfield said people were sleeping in their cars around 3 a.m. Saturday, trying to be first in line once the pumps reopened. About eight hours later, lines were still about a quarter-mile long.

"It seems that these long lines are everywhere you go," said Cepeda-Winfield, a CNN iReporter.