Today has been an emotional day for New York transplants living in Charlotte.

Keith Caminiti, who owns Brooklyn Boys Pizza in Mooresville, has been trying to get in touch with his family and friends in the New York metro area.

"It's a tough feeling, not knowing, and it's a helpless feeling," he said.

Caminiti and his wife moved to Charlotte 12 years ago.

On Tuesday morning, he texted one friend in Long Island and didn't get a reply until three hours later. It said : "We're ok. No power no cell service no internet."

By Tuesday afternoon, he was still trying to reach some of his wife's cousins in Brooklyn.

"You start to get into that state where you start questioning everything -- why aren't they calling back, is it because they don't have service, has something gone wrong, is there an emergency where they haven't gotten back to me yet?" he said.

Verizon officials said they were still working to assess the situation.

Representatives with AT&T released a more detailed statement, saying that they are closely monitoring "our wireline and wireless networks for service disruptions" and "experiencing some issues in areas heavily impacted by the storm."

AT&T said it was in the initial stages of assessing damage and that crews would be "working around the clock to restore service" "as soon as it is safe to do so."

Caminiti said he's keeping a close eye on his text messages and on social media like Twitter and Facebook.

"You take that deep breath and you don't let it go for a second -- till you find that everybody's okay and accounted for," he said.

UNC Charlotte sophomore Alex Passannante said he has been in touch with his parents and 93-year-old grandmother, who evacuated their home in Denville, N.J. at the urging of Gov. Chris Christie.

He said his father has been in touch with neighbors who say there is likely water damage.

Denville residents are being advised by Morris County Emergency Management to stay off the roads. Other New Jersey towns in the same county are in a state of emergency.

Passannante said the superstorm destroyed his cousin's home on Long Beach Island, where he and the rest of his family used to spend summers. Still, he's trying to remain positive and said he's just glad his cousin and the rest of his family are safe.

"It's it's not as bad as it could be," he said. "So hopefully it doesn't get worse. We can just pray and hope to God that it doesn't get any worse."