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Click the video player above to watch a live stream of NBC4 in Washington, D.C., as the giant storm makes landfall on the East Coast.

(NBC4) - Hurricane Sandy is making landfall on the East Coast now, with damaging winds and flooding swamping a broad swath of the Mid-Atlantic.

At of 5:45 p.m., the massive storm is crossing the shoreline, said Storm Team 4 Chief Metorologist Doug Kammerer.

Tens of thousands of people are already without power in the D.C. area, and authorities urged people to stay home as the region braced itself for 12 to 18 hours of hurricane-force winds and rain.

The giant storm stretched across the D.C. area and well into communities north, with hurricane-force winds extending outward up to 175 miles.

Sandy's impacts will continue to be extreme and far-reaching through the night and into tomorrow. Hurricane-force winds could reach as much as 100 miles inland overnight Monday, Storm Team 4 reports.

The National Weather Service issued a high wind warning for our area through 8 p.m. Tuesday. A flood warning is now in effect for most of our area.

With 5-10 inches of rain expected in much of the D.C. area (3-5 inches further west) and high tides 1-3 feet above normal Monday, extreme flooding is possible, Storm Team 4 meteorologist Chuck Bell said.

The full moon is expected to create tidal anomalies of 1-2 feet along the Tidal Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay.