(Getty)

Looking for opportunities to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy? Many organizations are looking for volunteers.

We'll keep this list updated as we learn of additional opportunities.

• New York Cares offers options for those who have attended New York Cares orientation in the past and for those who have not had the orientation but still want to help.
• New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio has a Hurricane Sandy NYC Volunteer sign-up sheet here. After you complete the form, the City's Public Advocate Office will make contact by phone.
• The Greater New York Region Red Cross has a comprehensive page up about helping after Sandy. It lists requirements for volunteering at a Red Cross shelter. They include being over 16 and availability to work 12-hour shifts from Wednesday, October 31 to Friday, November 2. Red Cross volunteers must also be able to lift at least 50 pounds, and be prepared to work at shelter locations outside of New York City and willing to stay for up to 72 hours.
• New York City Councilman Brad Lander addresses the need for volunteers on his home page, linking to the city's service site for anyone who wants to volunteer in the future and also listing needs for the John Jay High School shelter in his district, located at 237 Seventh Avenue, between Fourth and Fifth Streets. Items needed there include clothing for men, women and children, towels and shoes.
• Google's Crisis Map lists shelters as well. Many of those facilities may need volunteers.
• Volunteers can contact City Hall directly by emailing nycservice@cityhall.nyc.gov. Include a good contact email address, name and borough.
• The Lower East Side Recovers is a site intended to help organize recovery efforts on--obviously--the Lower East Side: "The site allows people to offer/request assistance, and is coordinated by the folks at Occupy NYC and community organizations on the ground." The site suggests using #SandyVolunteer on Twitter to connect with others who want to help.
• Mayor Bloomberg has recommended residents visit Disasterassistance.gov for recovery assistance.
• Hurricane Sandy canceled blood drives, so blood banks may be running low. Find places to donate blood here.
• The UJA Federation of New York has put together a comprehensive web page detailing volunteer opportunities. They include a chance to "donate and distribute basic items to elderly residents at the agency's Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Apartments who are without power and water" as well as information on delivering Hurricane Sandy relief packages.
• For anyone who was set to run the now controversial New York Marathon, a rogue group of runners have set up a Facebook page for volunteers to participate in the NYC Marathon of Relief Efforts. Here's how this novel effort is supposed to work, according to the page author: "Runners will show up at the starting line, but will break off en masse at different points of the city to deliver supplies to places hardest hit and without power. This will mean departing from the race, to head to various buildings, running up and down stairs delivering water and canned goods, etc." They ask non-runners who were planning to watch the race on Sunday to "bring water, cash, canned goods, blankets and/or be ready to donate blood."
• Hard-hit Staten Island has a dedicated page for volunteers at recovers.org. The most recent post on the page asks for "a large, empty space to stage out of in NYC." The need for a space will be ongoing.
• New York City's Food Bank needs more than 100 volunteers each day at its central location. The Food Bank is placing volunteers in other areas where they are needed. They are gathering food donations--items needed include water, cereal, canned fruits and vegetables, and peanut butter. Volunteers can register online here.
• Brooklyn's Neighbors Allied For Good Growth is gathering non-perishable food, AA batteries, flashlights and generators for elderly and disabled residents without power in housing developments located in Chinatown and on the Lower East Side. Locations where donations can be made include 46 Hester Street between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., Two Bridges Neighborhood Council at 80 and 82 Rutgers Slip. Arrangements to pick up or drop off donations can be made by emailing hesterstreetrecovery@gmail.com.

Many of the buildings down by the intersection of Water Street and Adams Street had placed sandbags or bales of hay in front of their doors to keep water from pouring in. Local businesses, like AEGIR Boardworks, took it all in stride, placing humorous signs on their front doors to signal closures. "Closed due to: Apocalypse, Zombies, Republicans, A Little Rain" read one.

The wind began to thrash us around as The Observer walked down along the perimeter of Brooklyn Bridge Park, which the city ordered closed at 5 p.m. The East River looked gray and angry, lapping up against the jagged rocks that separate it from the path that cuts through the park. The only other people out on the street were other curious observers, donning parkas though the rain hadn't begun yet.

In Peas and Pickles, a local market on Front Street, the shelves appeared ransacked: most canned goods were gone, though strangely there was a lot more beer left than we'd imagined. The line extended 15-people deep as shoppers cradled bottled water, boxes of cereal and ready-made deli meals.

As the wind grew sharper, we decided to head back home. The streets were eerily empty, except for a few neighbors scurrying back into their buildings with bags overflowing with groceries.

Predicted track of the storm. (NHC)

We hope you made use of the public transportation available before 7 p.m. Sunday and are not reading this from Zone A, which as NYC.gov tells us, should be empty now. Evacuation orders have reached across the waters as well, affecting New Jersey and Connecticut.

The City of Hoboken wants everyone out of "all ground floor apartments" by midnight Sunday night. They urge residents on upper floors to offer street-level neighbors lodging. Hoboken shelters will allow pets as well, as long as they are safely crated.

The mayor of Stamford Connecticut also ordered mandatory evacuations for some residents there on Sunday. Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia's evacuation order also targeted street-level residents. The mayor said, "Due to expected high tides, unprecedented storm surges, and heavy rains, I am advising anyone that lives in a low-lying area or along river flood plain areas, to relocate to higher ground."

Hurricane Sandy only continues to grow more epic--blizzard warnings have even been issued for interior portions of some mid-Atlantic states south of New Jersey.

The 5 p.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center did not mince words regarding the potential danger of the storm:

...SANDY EXPECTED TO BRING LIFE-THREATENING STORM SURGE FLOODING TO
THE MID-ATLANTIC COAST...INCLUDING LONG ISLAND SOUND AND NEW YORK
HARBOR...
...WILL BRING COASTAL HURRICANE WINDS AND HEAVY APPALACHIAN SNOWS...

Mayor Bloomberg's office has also coordinated with Google to create a crisis map to help track warnings, borough shelter locations and news alerts.