Daily activities along the United States’ East Coast have virtually come to a halt due to fears over Hurricane Sandy.

U.S. President Barack Obama departed the campaign trail on Monday and flew to Washington from Florida and urged Americans to abide by evacuation orders issued due to the hurricane.

All public offices, business firms and schools on the East Coast have been closed for two days.

With hundreds of thousands of people evacuating to safer areas, public transportation, including airplanes, trains and buses, have all been shut down.

Hurricane Sandy is estimated to make landfall in New Jersey on Tuesday, Korea time. The U.S. government has estimated that economic losses from the hurricane could reach up to 20 billion dollars.