The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
October 29, 2012

President Obama Signs Rhode Island Emergency Declaration

The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Rhode Island and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from Hurricane Sandy beginning on October 26, 2012, and continuing.

The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in all counties in the State of Rhode Island.

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.  Emergency protective measures, limited to direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent federal funding.

W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named James N. Russo as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
October 29, 2012

President Obama Signs Connecticut Emergency Declaration

The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Connecticut and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from Hurricane Sandy beginning on October 27, 2012, and continuing.
 
The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in all counties in the State of Connecticut.
 
Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.  Emergency protective measures, limited to direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent federal funding.
 
W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Albert Lewis as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.
 

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
October 29, 2012

President Obama Signs Pennsylvania Emergency Declaration

The President today declared an emergency exists in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and ordered federal aid to supplement commonwealth and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from Hurricane Sandy beginning on October 26, 2012, and continuing.

The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in all counties in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.  Emergency protective measures, limited to direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent federal funding.

W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Thomas J. McCool as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
October 28, 2012

President Obama Signs New Jersey Emergency Declaration

The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of New Jersey and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from Hurricane Sandy beginning on October 26, 2012, and continuing.
 
The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in all counties in the State of New Jersey.
 
Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.  Emergency protective measures, limited to direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent federal funding. 
 
W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Elizabeth Turner as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
October 28, 2012

President Obama Signs District of Columbia Emergency Declaration

The President today declared an emergency exists in the District of Columbia and ordered federal aid to supplement the District of Columbia’s response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from Hurricane Sandy beginning on October 28, 2012, and continuing.

The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the District of Columbia.

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.  Emergency protective measures, limited to direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent federal funding. 

W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Steven S. Ward as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
October 28, 2012

President Obama Signs New York Emergency Declaration  

The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of New York and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from Hurricane Sandy beginning on October 27, 2012, and continuing.

The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in all counties in the State of New York.

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.  Emergency protective measures, limited to direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent federal funding.

W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Philip E. Parr as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.

President Obama Speaks on Hurricane Sandy

October 28, 2012 | 3:58 | Public Domain

President Obama discusses preparations for Hurricane Sandy before it makes landfall along the East Coast.

Download mp4 (146MB) | mp3 (9MB)

Read the Transcript

Remarks By The President on Hurricane Sandy

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

________________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release                           October 28, 2012

Remarks By The President on Hurricane Sandy

FEMA Headquarters

Washington, D.C.

1:55 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, good afternoon, everybody.  Obviously, all of us across the country are concerned about the potential impact of Hurricane Sandy.  This is a serious and big storm.  And my first message is to all the people across the Eastern seaboard, Mid-Atlantic, going north, that you need to take this very seriously and follow the instructions of your state and local officials, because they are going to be providing you with the best advice in terms of how to deal with this storm over the coming days.

We just had an excellent meeting with the FEMA team here, the various agencies that are in charge, including the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy and others that are going to need to respond very quickly. 

Under Craig Fugate's leadership here at FEMA we've had a chance to talk to the regional officials as well.  And I just had a phone call with the governors of the potentially impacted states, as well as some of the major cities in the region.

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.  But as Craig 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.

I want to thank all the members of the team for the outstanding work that they’re doing.  But the other thing that makes this storm unique is we anticipate that it is going to be slow moving.  That means that it may take a long time not only to clear, but also to get, for example, the power companies back in to clear trees and to put things back in place so that folks can start moving back home.

So my main message to everybody involved is that we have to take this seriously.  The federal government is working effectively with the state and local governments.  It’s going to be very important that populations in all the impacted states take this seriously, listen to your state and local elected officials. 

My message to the governors, as well as to the mayors, is anything they need, we will be there.  And we’re going to cut through red tape.  We’re not going to get bogged down with a lot of rules.  We want to make sure that we are anticipating and leaning forward into making sure that we’ve got the best possible response to what is going to be a big and messy system.

So again, thank you, everybody.  Craig, would you like add to something?

MR. FUGATE:  Again, as the President says, it’s going to really come down to the public heeding those evacuation orders, taking protective measures.  If they haven’t gotten ready, they can go to Ready.gov.  Get information on how to protect them and their families, but also check on your neighbors.  This is going to be a big storm.  We need to be there for each other.

THE PRESIDENT:  Okay.  Let me emphasize that again -- Ready.gov -- for the general public.  If you need to know how to respond, that’s where you can get centralized information.

But I think Craig’s point is exactly right.  In times like this, one of the things that Americans do is we pull together and we help out one another.  And so, there may be elderly populations in your area.  Check on your neighbor, check on your friend.  Make sure that they are prepared.  If we do, then we’re going to get through this storm just fine.  But we’re going to have to make sure that we are vigilant, and vigilant for a couple of days.  Don’t anticipate that just because the immediate storm has passed that we’re not going to have some potential problems in a lot of these communities going forward through the week.

All right.  Thank you very much, everybody.

Close Transcript

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
October 28, 2012

President Obama Signs Massachusetts Emergency Declaration

The President today declared an emergency exists in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and ordered federal aid to supplement commonwealth and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from Hurricane Sandy beginning on October 27, 2012, and continuing.

The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in all counties in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.   Emergency protective measures, limited to direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent federal funding. 

W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Justo Hernández as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.

President Obama Discusses Hurricane Sandy

Matt Compton
Matt Compton
October 28, 2012
03:28 PM EDT
President Obama receives an update on the ongoing response to Hurricane Sandy

President Barack Obama receives an update on the ongoing response to Hurricane Sandy at the National Response Coordination Center at FEMA headquarters in Washington, D.C., Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012. FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, right, and Richard Serino, FEMA Deputy Administrator, are seated next to the President. October 28, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

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.”

President Obama talks to employees at FEMA

President Barack Obama talks to staff in the command center at FEMA headquarters in Washington, D.C., after receiving an update on the ongoing response to Hurricane Sandy. October 28, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

If you live in a community in the path of Hurricane Sandy, there’s still time to prepare for the storm. FEMA makes these suggestions on its blog:

  • Get some extra cash out at the ATM today. If the power goes out, banks/ATMs may be offline for some time.
  • Make a plan for how you’ll keep your cell phone charged if you lose power for several days. Picking up a solar or hand-crank charger for your phone is a good idea.
  • Take steps to protect your home/business from high winds – cover windows, clean gutters, trim trees.
  • Get to the store today for emergency supplies such as water, nonperishable food, batteries, flashlight, etc.
  • Make sure you have what you need in case the power goes out and cold weather moves in. Double check that you have a safe, warm place you can go, blankets in your home/car, and winter items like snow shovels and rock salt.
  • Employers: make sure your employees are prepared and review your continuity and tele-work plans.
Related Topics: Homeland Security, Maine, North Carolina

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
October 28, 2012

President Obama Signs Maryland Emergency Declaration

The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Maryland and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from Hurricane Sandy beginning on October 26, 2012, and continuing.

The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in all counties and the Independent City of Baltimore in the State of Maryland.

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.  Emergency protective measures, limited to direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent federal funding. 

W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Michael J. Lapinski as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.