ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (October 29, 2012)--Hurricane Sandy is now expected to blow ashore in New Jersey or Delaware by Monday, hours earlier than previously expected.

The storm picked up some forward speed, has already washed away a part of the Atlantic City Boardwalk, and is threatening to cripple Wall Street and New York's subway system with a huge surge of seawater.

By midafternoon, the storm was 85 miles southeast of Atlantic City, its winds at 90 miles an hour.

Forecasters warned it will combine with two other weather systems to create an epic superstorm.

From Washington to Boston, subways, buses, trains and schools were shut down.

More than 7,000 flights are grounded.

The New York Stock Exchange was closed and hundreds of thousands of people are under orders to move to higher ground.

With just more than a week to go before Election Day, President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney suspended their campaigning.

After returning to the White House from Florida, Mr. Obama urged those in harm's way to "listen to what your state and local officials are saying."

With tropical storm-force winds extending almost 500 miles from the storm's center, other major cities across the Northeast also prepared to for the worst.

Maryland's governor warned that people will die in the storm.