Reports: Romney Cancels Iowa Visit as Hurricane Sandy Barrels Along East Coast

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is curtailing his campaign schedule -- including Tuesday's Des Moines event -- as Hurricane Sandy bears down on the Eastern seaboard, canceling planned appearances Monday night and all day Tuesday, according to KCCI.com and the Des Moines Register.

The campaign website says Romney's wife, Ann, will be in Des Moines as planned. It calls the event a "victory rally with Ann Romney and the Republican team."

Campaign officials say vice presidential running mate Paul Ryan will also scrap campaign rallies during the same time frame, KCCI reports.

The decision was announced a short while after President Barack Obama canceled a planned rally in Florida to fly back to Washington, where aides said he would oversee the government's response to the threat posed by the storm.

Romney intends to go ahead with speeches today in Ohio and Davenport before he begins observing his self-imposed storm-related moratorium on campaigning, KCCI said.

Romney on the campaign trail today encouraged people to make a contribution to the Red Cross or another relief agency, and to volunteer in any way they can to help hurricane victims, according to the Des Moines Register.