Brooklyn residents exasperated on fourth day without power

As of 6 p.m. Tuesday, about 100 Brooklyn residents were still without power for the fourth day amid the bitter cold streak. 

Con Ed said those customers in Park Slope are expected to have their power restored Tuesday afternoon. 

It all started as a result of manhole fires on Saturday. The utility said those manhole fires were triggered by melting snow from last week's storm. 

"As the snow melts, road salt mixes with the water and seeps into the underground system, corroding wires, stressing equipment and causing localized failures," a Con Ed spokesperson said.   

Residents along Fourth Avenue near Bergen Street have bene running stoves in their apartments for heat, layering up and have been using flashlights to get around. 

Groceries spoiled during outage, residents say

"They're acting as though it's some act of God, that we could have never foreseen this. But, you know, this is part of the system and they should develop a system where it's resilient to that more, that it's able to be fixed very easily," Park Slope resident Sam Dealy said.  

Jennifer Bartholomew says her mother's apartment got power restored Tuesday, but all of the contents of her refrigerator were ruined. 

"All the groceries and stuff that she has, it's like she has to get rid of it," she said. "You're talking about hundreds of dollars of groceries." 

Monica Bartholomew said she hasn't showered in four days, but would wash with water warmed in a kettle.   

"It's 45 degrees in my living room" 

Jonathan Medina said he lost more than food. He said his mother almost died. 

"My mom, she has COPD, so she has to be on oxygen 23 hours a day," he said. 

She's now staying with a relative, but Medina said she was injured during the outage. 

"Fell down the stairs, because the power was out. No light in hallways," he said. 

"It's 45 degrees in my living room," Park Slope resident Ken Buhler said. "I'm worried about the infrastructure of my building. If pipes start bursting, that's really bad." 

"I sent a letter to Con Edison CEO Timothy Pauley demanding that residents receive credits," City Councilmember Shahana Hanif said. 

A Con Ed spokesperson said claims should be submitted within 30 days. 

Hanif said she wants the utility to look at what happened in order to prevent it in the future. 

A local official told CBS News New York progress was made overnight on repairing the underground cables, and restoration efforts were concentrated between St. Mark's Place and Dean Street from Third to Fifth Avenues. 

Officials urged residents in the area to make contingency plans since estimated repair completion time has slid before.