President Addresses Nation Oct. 29 on Hurricane Sandy

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Barack Obama briefly addressed the nation from the White House about 12:45 p.m. Oct. 29 regarding the impending disaster that awaits about a third of the nation Oct. 29.
He told reporters he had spoken with all governors earlier that morning, and that the federal government was ready to respond quickly when the storm subsides. He urged all citizens to listen to the orders or advice of their local officials regarding evacuation or other directives.
He also advised those who were not familiar with what to do to visit ready.gov for information about storm preparations.
Obama said widespread, prolonged power outages are anticipated, and that utility companies would be working to the best of their ability to have the power restored as soon as safety allowed.
In a report from the White House Oct. 28:
As Hurricane Sandy continues to bear down on the East Coast, federal teams are working with state and local officials to prepare for days of severe weather in communities stretching from North Carolina to Maine. Forecasts from the National Hurricane Center suggest that a huge area of the United States could be affected by high winds, heavy rains, storm surge, and snow – all of which could produce widespread power outages.
Today, President Obama traveled to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to get briefed on those preparations. He met with FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, FEMA Deputy Administrator Richard Serino, and the FEMA regional directors. Dr. Rick Knabb, the director for the National Hurricane Center, joined the meeting by video conference.
“At this stage, everybody is confident that the staging process, the prepositioning of resources, commodities, equipment that are going to be needed to respond to this storm are in place,” the President said. “But as Craig [Fugate] has emphasized, this hasn’t hit landfall yet, so we don’t yet know where it’s going to hit, where we’re going to see the biggest impacts. And that’s exactly why it’s so important for us to respond big and respond fast as local information starts coming in.”