Hurricane Sandy Hits the East Coast

Updated 12:30PM: Over 50 million Americans could be affected with Hurricane Sandy barreling through the east coast Monday. The hurricane is expected to combine with two lower pressure storms to cause unprecedented damage.

The storm has picked up strength as it nears the coast, with sustained winds now exceeding 90 mph. Widespread power failures and transportation closures are expected to bring life to a screeching halt in eastern United States.

At 12:30 p.m., the center of the hurricane was on target for southeastern New Jersey. Landfall is expected early this evening, according to the National Hurricane Center.

"In midtown, there's been slight rain, a little drizzling, cloudy, slightly windy, but nothing too drastic that people can't go outside and walk around. I still see people walking around outside and jogging around outside," said NY resident Justin Le

"The great thing about America," President Obama said, "is that when we go through tough times like this, we all pull together."

Obama and GOP candidate Mitt Romney have both paused their campaigns to observe the storm. Obama cancelled all of his events for Monday and Tuesday while Romney still plans to campaign in Ohio and Iowa, but has cancelled his trip to Wisconsin on Monday night. Obama said he is not concerned about the election, but more concerned with the storm affecting millions of Americans.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced two tunnels into New York City, the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and Holland Tunnel, will be closed at 2 p.m. Monday. Meteorologists predict the worst of the storm will hit at approximately 4 p.m.

Hurricane Sandy is a Category 1 storm but is continuing to strengthen.