Hurricane Sandy
President Obama will deliver a statement after his White House Situation Room briefing on Hurricane Sandy at 12:45 p.m. ET, according to a release from the White House. NOAA

President Obama will deliver a statement after his White House Situation Room briefing on Hurricane Sandy at 12:45 p.m. ET, according to a release from the White House.

(Click HERE to watch President Obama deliver a live statement on Hurricane Sandy)

The statement will come shortly before New York City sets close the Battery and Holland Tunnel at 2 p.m. in preparation for the Hurricane Sandy.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is also shutting down all service at 2 p.m. due to expected high winds. Secretary of Transportation Richard Davey says the order affects all subway, bus and commuter rail service.

Hurricane Sandy intensified on Monday morning, the National Hurricane Center said. Maximum sustained winds have increased to 90 mph with gusts to 115 mph.

As Sandy made its way to the East Coast early Monday, its front force sent surges over boardwalks from Delaware to New Jersey hours before the reported 900-mile wide storm was to make landfall.

“The city’s basically flooded,” Willie Glass, the city’s public safety directory told reporters Monday. “Most of the city is under water,” he added.

The very first reports of rescue efforts surfaced out of Oak Orchard, Del., after a community along the Indian River Bay declined to follow mandatory evacuation orders.

Officials across the Eastern Seaboard had requested residents to obey evacuation orders, emphasizing that local authorities could be put in danger if they tried to save them. Still, some didn't leave.

In addition Connecticut is banning trucks from highways, Gov. Dan Malloy announced. Highways will also be closed to all vehicles beginning at 1 p.m.

“Wind gusts will soon exceed 50 mph; travel is dangerous,” he said via Twitter.