Sandy the super-storm has blown the US presidential race off track with just a week to go until the elections.

President Barack Obama cancelled Wednesday campaign events as he stayed in Washington focusing on relief efforts for the devastated East Coast.

Republican Mitt Romney held a storm-relief event in Ohio, a state crucial to his hopes, and will return to the campaign trail on Wednesday.

Opinion polls show the candidates are running neck-in-neck.

Mr Romney holds a slender lead in some national surveys of the popular vote, but Mr Obama was narrowly ahead in some of the swing states that are expected to decide the race.

The storm has effectively frozen the hotly fought election race by dominating media coverage, while muting the two rivals.

With President Obama monitoring relief efforts from the White House, Mr Romney faced the delicate challenge of trying to demonstrate his leadership abilities without electioneering amid a natural disaster.

Washington political analysts were meanwhile left playing guessing games about Sandy's possible implications for the White House contest.

The storm has complicated early voting already underway in Virginia and Florida and could depress voter turnout in areas with power cuts and debris-clogged roads.

Mr Obama offered his thoughts and prayers to those affected, telling them: "America is with you." New Jersey’s Republican Governor Chris Christie has praised Mr Obama's response to the storm as "outstanding".

Analysts say such plaudits from a popular Republican governor touted as a possible 2016 presidential candidate should Mr Romney lose, represent useful publicity for the Obama campaign.

Mr. Romney faced questions from reporters about a proposal he made earlier this year to funnel money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the states and private sector.

From The BBC