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Late-night hosts David Letterman and Jimmy Fallon sent home their live audiences Monday afternoon as Hurricane Sandy started to whip through New York City, but that didn’t stop them from taping.

Both shows began with the hosts outside in rain coats, followed by pan shots of empty audience seats.

“Because of safety, we thought if we got 500 people here in the audience that would be great, but they would be getting out just in time for the full-on attack of Hurricane Sandy, and that wouldn’t be a good idea,” Letterman told band leader Paul Schaffer. “We felt like we would be putting the audience — hell, we’ve been doing that for 30 years!”

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Although Letterman still performed his Top 10 List — the topic was rejected names for Frankenstorm such as iPaddy — and cracked jokes about the presidential candidates, the hurricane was clearly top of mind throughout the show.

Actor Denzel Washington joined Letterman on stage, saying he “swam” to get there. Fallon also had a strong lineup of guests, including Saturday Night Live’s Seth Meyers, Top Chef’s Padma Lakshmi, director Robert Zemeckis and the band Image Dragon.

“Hurricane Sandy is on its way, and I’m hoping if your home and watching, you’re safe and warm,” Fallon said. “We sent our guests home, but we’re here. All of our guests came, which is big for us. We were worried we weren’t going to get guests.”