Obama takes charge at hurricane command center
IN A SOMEWHAT RELATED & DEVELOPING STORY: OBAMA TAKES CHARGE OF THE DONNER PARTY ...
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"It's going to be a long 72 hours. Obviously a lot of families are going to be affected ... the biggest concern I'm having right now has to do with flooding and power," Obama said during the videoconference. [Where was Obama this spring when the midwest took the big hit with floods and power outages? I'll give you 65 million reasons!]
"(It) sounds like that's going to be an enormous strain on a lot of states" that could last days, or even longer in some cases, he said. [Mass hysteria only plays with group think!]
Saturday evening Obama convened a conference call with members of his senior emergency response team including Vice President Joe Biden and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, among others. [Is this going to be like the J.O.B.S. "new" initiative in September?]
"The President was briefed on the current track of the storm, the weather impacts being felt so far and efforts to pre-position response and recovery assets," said a statement released by the White House.
"The President asked to be kept apprised of developments throughout the night and said that he wants the group to re-convene tomorrow morning." [Ah yes, the famous 3am call, its still raining and the wind is blowing, "call me in the morning!"]
The White House said Obama heard updates on Saturday from governors and emergency management officials in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont. [sucking around for "free FEMA funds"]
The White House appears to have carefully considered the lesson of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when a botched response effort and confusion between state and federal agencies inflicted a heavy political price on president George W. Bush.
Obama returned home one night early on Friday from his island vacation on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts and appeared keen to be visibly in charge as the response to Hurricane Irene unfolds. [Oh, please ... spare me!]
In an earlier conference call on Saturday, Obama held a conference call with Napolitano, FEMA administrator Craig Fugate and other senior emergency management officials. [quoting "dead fish" Emmanuel can't left a potential crisis go to waste.]
"The president reiterated that we know that this storm's impacts will continue to be felt throughout the weekend and that we still have work ahead of us to support potentially impacted states and communities," the White House said.
Sustained winds of 85 miles (140 kilometers) an hour lashed coastal areas as Irene made landfall near the southern end of a chain of barrier islands that ring the North Carolina coast, the National Hurricane Center said.
Cities along the east coast of the United States -- from Washington to New York to Boston -- braced for the impact, with hundreds of thousands of people ordered to evacuate low-lying areas. [common sense dictates you gotta come in out of the rain, people aren't stupid ... but voters are]
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US President Barack Obama warned the US east coast was in for a "long 72 hours" as he led his government's response to Hurricane Irene at a disaster command center in Washington.
Obama on Saturday chaired a meeting at the National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) set up at the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) headquarters in Washington, which is marshaling federal and local hurricane-relief efforts."This is going to be a tough slog getting through this thing," Obama said during a video teleconference including senior federal officials and local government agencies in the east coast path of Irene.
Obama on Saturday chaired a meeting at the National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) set up at the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) headquarters in Washington, which is marshaling federal and local hurricane-relief efforts."This is going to be a tough slog getting through this thing," Obama said during a video teleconference including senior federal officials and local government agencies in the east coast path of Irene.
"It's going to be a long 72 hours. Obviously a lot of families are going to be affected ... the biggest concern I'm having right now has to do with flooding and power," Obama said during the videoconference. [Where was Obama this spring when the midwest took the big hit with floods and power outages? I'll give you 65 million reasons!]
"(It) sounds like that's going to be an enormous strain on a lot of states" that could last days, or even longer in some cases, he said. [Mass hysteria only plays with group think!]
Saturday evening Obama convened a conference call with members of his senior emergency response team including Vice President Joe Biden and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, among others. [Is this going to be like the J.O.B.S. "new" initiative in September?]
"The President was briefed on the current track of the storm, the weather impacts being felt so far and efforts to pre-position response and recovery assets," said a statement released by the White House.
"The President asked to be kept apprised of developments throughout the night and said that he wants the group to re-convene tomorrow morning." [Ah yes, the famous 3am call, its still raining and the wind is blowing, "call me in the morning!"]
The White House said Obama heard updates on Saturday from governors and emergency management officials in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont. [sucking around for "free FEMA funds"]
The White House appears to have carefully considered the lesson of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when a botched response effort and confusion between state and federal agencies inflicted a heavy political price on president George W. Bush.
Obama returned home one night early on Friday from his island vacation on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts and appeared keen to be visibly in charge as the response to Hurricane Irene unfolds. [Oh, please ... spare me!]
In an earlier conference call on Saturday, Obama held a conference call with Napolitano, FEMA administrator Craig Fugate and other senior emergency management officials. [quoting "dead fish" Emmanuel can't left a potential crisis go to waste.]
"The president reiterated that we know that this storm's impacts will continue to be felt throughout the weekend and that we still have work ahead of us to support potentially impacted states and communities," the White House said.
Sustained winds of 85 miles (140 kilometers) an hour lashed coastal areas as Irene made landfall near the southern end of a chain of barrier islands that ring the North Carolina coast, the National Hurricane Center said.
Cities along the east coast of the United States -- from Washington to New York to Boston -- braced for the impact, with hundreds of thousands of people ordered to evacuate low-lying areas. [common sense dictates you gotta come in out of the rain, people aren't stupid ... but voters are]
