Hurricane Sandy approaches north-eastern US - in pictures

Jersey City residents fill sandbags in preparation for hurricane Sandy. The Army Corps of Engineers provided residents with enough material for 14,000 sandbags Photograph: Ethan Glading/ Demotix

Jeremy Seidel covers storefront windows with plywood in the Watch Hill section of Westerly, Rhode Island Photograph: Steven Senne/AP

The One World Trade Center is seen in the background as workers place sandbags outside the Exchange Place path station, located in a vulnerable part of New Jersey Photograph: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks to members of the media at Seward Park High School, which is doubling as an evacuation centre Photograph: Andrew Burton/Getty Images

A road sign warns drivers of weather conditions in Washington Photograph: Eva Hambach/AFP/Getty Images

Transport workers secure the entrance to Canal Street station in New York in an effort to prevent any possible flooding Photograph: Mary Altaffer/AP

Volunteer Brian Jacobson, centre, helps stack sandbags in Alexandria, Virginia Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA

Customers wait in line to buy groceries at the Fairway supermarket in New York Photograph: Keith Bedford/Reuters

A worker secures pavement grates in lower Manhattan Photograph: Craig Ruttle/AP

James Baniagua, from the IT department of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, removes payroll computers from company headquarters in New York Photograph: Carlo Allegri/Reuters

A police officer seals off a flooded road in Nags Head, North Carolina Photograph: Gerry Broome/AP

A news crew wades through sea foam blown onto Jeanette's pier in Nags Head, North Carolina Photograph: Gerry Broome/AP

Shoppers grab the few remaining water bottles from the shelves at the Waldbaums grocery store in Long Beach, New York Photograph: Mike Stobe/Getty Images

High winds blow sea foam into the air as a man walks along Jeanette's pier in Nags Head, North Carolina Photograph: Gerry Broome/AP

Bulldozers pile up sand in an effort to protect seafront property at Compo Beach in Westport, Connecticut Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

A Nasa satellite image shows the immense size of hurricane Sandy as it makes its way northwards from Florida Photograph: NASA/Getty Images