Hurricane Sandy bears down on US east coast - in pictures

A police car patrols the Brooklyn waterfront as storm clouds blow over the Manhattan skyline in New York Photograph: Keith Bedford/Reuters

A construction vehicle drives through the flooded streets of the Dumbo neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York Photograph: Stringer/Reuters

Water from Manhattan's East river floods East 20th Street Photograph: Rigelhaupt Samuel//Sipa USA / Rex

Firefighters gather in front of a partially collapsed four-storey apartment building in Manhattan Photograph: Andrew Kelly/Reuters

A news reporter waits to report live from Battery Park in New York Photograph: John Minchillo/AP

People wade and paddle on a flooded street in Lindenhurst, Long Island Photograph: Jason DeCrow/AP

A workman cuts a tree in pieces after it fell on top of a car in Hoboken, New Jersey Photograph: Gary Hershorn/Reuters

Waves crash against a previously damaged pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey Photograph: Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images

People brace against a gust in Brooklyn's Dumbo neighborhood Photograph: Bebeto Matthews/AP

Heavy rain falls on the US Capitol and Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC Photograph: J. Scott Applewhite/AP

A row of houses stands in floodwaters at Grassy Sound in North Wildwood, New Jersey Photograph: Dale Gerhard/AP

Marine crew work to secure a boat that serves as a club house at the North Hudson yacht club in Edgewater, New Jersey Photograph: Marko Georgiev/AP

People take refuge at a Red Cross shelter in Deer Park, New York Photograph: Jason DeCrow/AP

People walk across the Brooklyn bridge as the New York public transport system is shut down Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Sandbags block the entrance to the closed Staten Island ferry terminal Photograph: Craig Ruttle/AP

A man walks in the floodwaters in front of his home on Fenwick Island, Delaware Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP