President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney overhauled campaign plans again for Monday as Hurricane Sandy threatened tens of millions of Americans.
Both men dumped planned rallies in swing states in the path of the monster storm, upending strategies which have been months in the making.
"The storm will throw havoc into the race," Democratic Virginia Senator and Obama supporter Mark Warner told Fox News, as coastal evacuations were ordered and millions of people feared flooding and power cuts.
As the hurricane neared, Mr Romney on Sunday scrapped appearances in Virginia to join running-mate Paul Ryan in Ohio, the Midwestern epicentre of the unpredictable final week battle.
Mr Obama, who had already brought forward his arrival in Florida to Sunday evening to dodge the storm, cancelled an appearance on Monday in Orlando.
"Due to deteriorating weather conditions in the Washington area, the president will not attend today's campaign event in Orlando," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
Barack Obama meets campaign workers in Florida on Sunday "The President will return to the White House to monitor the preparations for and early response to Hurricane Sandy."
Sandy is forecast to begin hitting the Washington region on Monday with strong wind and drenching rain.
The Obama campaign said the president was being briefed regularly on the hurricane and preparations for the federal government "to bring all available resources to bear" to ease the effects of the monstrous, late-season storm.
"Obviously my first priority has to be to make sure that everything is in place for families," the president told campaign workers in Florida on Sunday.
"That's going to be putting a little bit more burden on folks in the field, because I'm not going to be able to campaign quite as much over the next couple of days."
Mr Obama has also cancelled a campaign event in Virginia on Monday and one in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Tuesday.
Virginia and Colorado - like Florida, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa and Nevada - are the critical battleground states where the outcome of the election will be determined.
Mitt Romney campaigning in Florida at the weekend Democrats claim the president has the edge heading into the final full week of the campaign.
The storm could offer opportunity for Obama, allowing him to pose as a cool, effective leader, marshalling the resources of an engaged government at a moment when citizens most need it.
However Republicans insist Mr Romney has the momentum necessary for victory.
In an email to supporters, he said people in Hurricane Sandy's path were in his thoughts and prayers.
"I hope that if you can, you'll reach out to your neighbours who may need help getting ready for the storm - especially your elderly neighbours," Mr Romney said
"I'm never prouder of America than when I see how we pull together in a crisis. There's nothing that we can't handle when we stand together."
Voters in many states are already casting ballots early, and about one-third of the electorate will have voted before Election Day.
In addition to scrambling to tweak schedules over the weekend, the campaigns were pumping millions of more dollars into TV ads running in the decisive battleground states.
Well-funded outside groups and super PACs are paying for direct mail, automated phone calls and other get-out-the-vote efforts.
Total spending in this campaign has exceeded $2 billion, making it the most expensive presidential race in the history of electoral politics.
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