Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
The White House
November 3, 2012
This weekend, millions of our fellow Americans are still picking up the pieces from one of the worst storms in our history.
I toured New Jersey on Wednesday with Governor Christie,
and witnessed some of the terrible devastation firsthand. It’s
heartbreaking. Families have lost loved ones. Entire communities have
been wiped away. Even some of the first responders who repeatedly put
themselves in harm’s way to bravely save the lives of others have
suffered losses of their own.
Today, I ask everyone to keep them in your prayers. And
as President, I promise them this: your country will be there for you
for as long as it takes to recover and rebuild.
Throughout the week, I’ve been in constant contact with
governors and mayors in the affected areas, who are doing an excellent
job in extraordinarily difficult circumstances. And we owe the first
responders and National Guardsmen who have been working around the clock
our deepest gratitude.
Our number one concern has been making sure that affected
states and communities have everything they need to respond to and
recover from this storm.
From the earliest hours, I ordered that resources be made
available to states in the path of the storm as soon as they needed
them. And I instructed my team not to let red tape and bureaucracy get
in the way of solving problems – especially when it came to making sure
local utilities could restore power as quickly as possible.
Before the storm hit, FEMA pre-staged emergency response
teams from North Carolina to Maine, and deployed resources like food,
water, and generators up and down the coast. As the storm passed,
thousands of FEMA personnel were on the ground responding to those in
need. And by midweek, the Department of Defense was ready to fly in
cargo planes that could be loaded with trucks and equipment to help
local power companies get up and running faster.
But recovery will be a long, hard road for many communities. There’s a lot of work ahead.
If you’ve been directly impacted by this storm and need
temporary assistance getting back on your feet, you can call
1-800-621-FEMA, or apply at Disaster Assistance.gov. If you know folks
who are still without power, please spread the word and let them know.
And if you don’t live in an affected area and want to help, supporting the Red Cross is the best and fastest way.
This week, we have been humbled by nature’s destructive
power. But we’ve been inspired as well. For when the storm was
darkest, the heroism of our fellow citizens shone brightest.
The nurses and doctors at NYU Medical Center who evacuated fragile newborns, carrying some down several flights of stairs.
The firefighters in Queens who battled an inferno from flooded streets, and rescued people from an apartment building by boat.
The Coast Guard crews from North Carolina who saved a
sinking ship in stormy seas – and their rescue swimmer who, when he
reached those in need, said, “I’m Dan, and I hear you guys need a
ride.”
That’s who we are. We’re Americans. When times are
tough, we’re tougher. We put others first. We go that extra mile. We
open our hearts and our homes to one another, as one American family.
We recover, we rebuild, we come back stronger – and together we will do
that once more. Thanks, God bless you, and God bless America.
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