[2] On October 28, U.S. President Barack Obama approved Connecticut's request for an emergency declaration, ahead of Hurricane Sandy making landfall; hundreds of National Guard personnel were deployed.

At 1 p.m. EDT, state highways were closed to all non-emergency vehicles; the last time such an order was issued in Connecticut was during the Blizzard of 1978.

[8] On October 24, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency began issuing situational awareness news releases as computer models predicted Sandy could "potentially transition over the weekend into a powerful nor'easter."

Governor Deval Patrick gave utility companies until October 26 to submit emergency plans in case the storm caused outages.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority expected to operate all public transit services for as long as it was safe to do so.

The American Red Cross opened shelters in Fall River, Weymouth, and Newbury and on Martha's Vineyard, and all schools closed as well.

[12][13] On October 28, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin declared a state of emergency to attain federal resources and the National Guard if required.

[15] On October 28, New Hampshire Governor John Lynch put 100 National Guard members on active duty to assist with storm preparations and declared a state of emergency.

[18] Clean utility water in the state may have been compromised by sewage backups or pollution caused by seawater churned up by Sandy.

The Fox Point Hurricane Barrier in Providence was lowered in order to reduce flood damage in the downtown area.

[45] In addition to gusty winds, the storm produced generally light rains across the state, with valleys reporting less than 1 in (25 mm) and slightly higher amounts in elevated locations.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the federal government would offer help to the state, and as of the morning of November 2, 241,000 customers were without power, down from a peak of 625,000.

[38] Commuter rail service along the Danbury and Waterbury branches of Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line resumed November 4.

[citation needed] On November 7, the Federal Emergency Management Agency closed some disaster recovery centers as of 1 p.m. EDT due to the nor'easter.

[52] On November 28, President Obama declared the counties of Belknap, Carroll, Coos, Grafton, and Sullivan as federal disaster areas.