Hurricane Sandy 2012, Atlantic, United States

- New England
Governor Dan Malloy partially activated the state's Emergency Operations Center on October 26 and signed a Declaration of Emergency the next day. On October 28, President Obama approved Connecticut's request for an emergency declaration, ahead of Hurricane Sandy making landfall; hundreds of National Guard personnel were deployed. On October 29, Governor Malloy ordered road closures for all state highways to be done in two phases. At 11 a.m. EDT, trucks were prohibited from operating on limited access highways. At 1 p.m. EDT, state highways were closed to all non-emergency vehicles; the last time such an order was issued in Connecticut was during the Blizzard of 1978. Numerous mandatory and partial evacuations were issued in cities across Connecticut.
On October 28, Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee and the state's Emergency Management Agency urged that Rhode Islanders be prepared for the storm and "pay attention to the news" as Sandy approaches. Additionally, National Grid USA, Rhode Island's leading energy company, has announced that they are more well prepared than during Hurricane Irene in 2011, when power outages were widespread in the state due to what National Grid has said was a lack of communication amongst National Grid employees.
On October 24, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency began issuing situational awareness news releases as computer models predicted Sandy could "potentially transition over the weekend into a powerful nor'easter." Governor Deval Patrick gave utility companies until October 26 to submit emergency plans in case the storm caused outages. Patrick also encouraged all schools and colleges to close and non-essential employees to remain at home. State officials were considering evacuations of coastal areas. The MBTA expected to operate all public transit services for as long as it was safe to do so. Governor Patrick ordered state offices to be closed October 29 and recommended schools and private businesses close. On October 28, President Obama issued a Pre-Landfall Emergency Declaration for Massachusetts. The Red Cross opened shelters in Fall River, Weymouth, Newbury and on Martha's Vineyard, and all schools closed as well. On the morning of October 29, three shelters opened on Cape Cod. The MBTA suspended commuter boat service on the morning of October 29, and suspended all public transportation services at 2 p.m. later in the day.