Still, the notion that dead New Yorkers could be left to decay in broad daylight in rental trucks on a crowded street in Brooklyn underscored the challenges facing the city as it tries to absorb a disaster that has already killed nearly five times as many as died in the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

One official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the matter, said that the funeral home had been storing bodies in the trucks after its freezer stopped operating properly…

“It appears the truck was full,” Mr. Adams said. “They were trying to use U-Haul as a backup.” He added: “This is traumatizing to family members.”