In the US, cold-water tanks are virtually nonexistant. (There are some municipalities where the municipal supply doesn't have enough pressure to put water to the top of their tall apartment buildings, and those buildings will have tanks, but as far as I know, that's pretty uncommon. Other than that New York City is one of them.)

I don't know precisely how US hot water tanks deal with that problem, but I'd bet that there is more space in the tank beyond the point where the tank will shut off incoming cold water.