U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday declared a state of emergency for Maryland, making federal aid available for local response as Hurricane Sandy is threatening to devastate the East Coast.

Obama signed the emergency declaration for Maryland, a state close to the country's capital, authorizing the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate all disaster relief efforts and provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures.

The White House said the president is heading to the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Sunday afternoon to get updated on response efforts for Hurricane Sandy.

Obama is balancing between his job and the home stretch of his re-election campaign just nine days before the Election Day. He will travel to Florida later Sunday to prepare for a campaign event Monday.

Several northeastern states, including Maryland, Virginia and New Jersey, have already declared state of emergency by themselves since Friday in preparation for the approaching Hurricane Sandy.

Speaking on CNN's State of Union on Sunday, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell said the state had learned lessons from the last storm which left many local residents without power for days, and already got about 2,000 additional people this time to help with the state's power supply.

He also said the state Board of Election was already planning for extended hours in advance for absentee voting as the hurricane may potentially prevent voters getting out to cast ballots on Election Day.