Christie sees "absolute devastation," at Shore and beyond
EWING -- Gov. Christie described "absolute devastation" on the morning after Hurricane Sandy slammed the Jersey Shore: 2.4 million households without power, two dozen empty rail cars washed onto an elevated part of the New Jersey Turnpike, homes lifted to nearby highways, and a roller coaster or log flume from the Seaside Park amusement pier floating in the Atlantic Ocean. "There are no words to describe what so many New Jerseyans experienced over the last 24 hours and what they'll have to contend with over the coming days, weeks or months," Christie said at a morning news briefing at state police headquarters in Ewing. There are 5,500 people in shelters, so far, and the National Guard is undergoing search-and-rescue missions from the small Bergen County borough of Moonachie, where a natural berm was overwhelmed by a tidal surge, to Atlantic City, where residents stayed behind in their homes and at flooded city shelters. Three deaths have so far been reported, including parents in Christie's hometown of Mendham who were killed by a falling tree. Their children, ages 11 and 14, were injured.
Christie sees "absolute devastation," at Shore and beyond
Matt Katz, Inquirer Staff Writer
EWING -- Gov. Christie described “absolute devastation” on the morning after Hurricane Sandy slammed the Jersey Shore: 2.4 million households without power, two dozen empty rail cars washed onto an elevated part of the New Jersey Turnpike, homes lifted to nearby highways, and a roller coaster or log flume from the Seaside Park amusement pier floating in the Atlantic Ocean.
“There are no words to describe what so many New Jerseyans experienced over the last 24 hours and what they’ll have to contend with over the coming days, weeks or months,” Christie said at a morning news briefing at state police headquarters in Ewing.
There are 5,500 people in shelters, so far, and the National Guard is undergoing search-and-rescue missions from the small Bergen County borough of Moonachie, where a natural berm was overwhelmed by a tidal surge, to Atlantic City, where residents stayed behind in their homes and at flooded city shelters.
Three deaths have so far been reported, including parents in Christie’s hometown of Mendham who were killed by a falling tree. Their children, ages 11 and 14, were injured.
The power failures stretch across the state and already have affected twice as many people as were affected by Hurricane Irene. Ninety-one health-care facilities are without power.
Full restoration may take longer than a week, he said, but crews have been brought in from as far away as Texas and Canada to help out.
Roadways are closed throughout the state, although the Garden State Parkway and parts of the turnpike have been reopened.
The most striking incident on the turnpike occurred when 24 small rail cars near Exit 12 were carried by tidal surge onto the elevated roadway on the northbound side. Elsewhere, there are seven-foot piles of debris on the turnpike.
Christie spoke somberly about fresh pictures shot from a state police helicopter over the Jersey Shore this morning.
“The damage at the Jersey Shore is unthinkable,” Christie said.
In Ocean County, Christie saw houses lifted off their foundations and dropped into the middle of Route 35.
“To prepare the public for what they’re going to see is beyond anything I thought I would ever see,” Christie said. “Terrible.”
Christie will take a state police helicopter over the Jersey Shore today to survey damage himself.
He is considering issuing an executive order to postpone Halloween until later in the week to ensure that children aren’t trick-or-treating around areas with downed trees and live wires.
“We want Halloween, but we also want kids to be safe and alive,” he said.
Christie praised President Obama both at this morning’s briefing and during a flurry of national TV appearances he did early in the day. The men spoke three times yesterday, and Obama woke up Christie with a midnight phone call. “Which is fine – he gets to,” he said
“The president has been all over this and he deserves credit,” Christie said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “It’s been very good working with the president and his administration…it’s been wonderful.”
As for the presidential election next Tuesday, Christie said at the press conference: “I don’t give a damn about Election Day; it doesn’t matter a lick to me at the moment. I’ve got much bigger fish to fry, as do the people of New Jersey.”
I'm just thinking, what would Tony Soprano do?— seattlesnow- I've got a new sense of respect for Gov. Christie. He's saying all the right things and has the right priorities in mind. A lot of people in, and running for, political office should take note.— akh
i'm glad gov. christie is able to set aside whatever political differences he has with obama, and thanked him for his help. christie is exactly the kind of man we need in the white house. someone able to rise above politics and look out for the best interests of his constituents. obama on the other hand is already trying to exploit this tragedy for everything he can. he is the greatest villain to occupy the oval office since nixon— hannibal barca- Thanks for reading Christie's comments hannibal. You show amazing comprehension. Jersey should just be thankful it WAS Obama at the helm. Imagine if it were BushCo. Or Romney, for that matter. Talk about exploiting a tragedy. "Send your donations to my offices so I can deliver them and delay everything for political photo-ops". Oh - and again notice it was GOP governors (Corbett and Christie) asking for Federal money & assistance BEFORE the storm even hit. So much for the vaunted GOP "state's responsibility" plank. Who needs FEMA? Jersey and PA, apparently.— CiceroSpuriousDeodatusTheSecond
- Can't understand why this rag didn't print those two paragrapghs where Christie praises Obama in upper case, with bold face, and underlining.— mmds
Comment removed.- Mac_dummy - takes one to know one, but in this case you are dead wrong. During the primaries, anti-big government Romney stated that FEMA should be eliminated with its tasks, including disaster relief, delegated to the states. Poor decision considering the states lack the necessary resources. You are a typical Republican bully, ignore the facts and call people names.— vipers19
- Actually, Obama is the one slashing FEMA, not Romney.
"While Romney and Ryan are merely proposing to shift some of the emergency functions to the states, or to balance further increases in FEMA funding with offsetting cuts in other discretionary spending, Obama has proposed actual cuts, at both
the federal and state levels.
During the Third Presidential Debate, Obama attempted to blame Congress for introducing the idea of the sequester, and said that sequester cuts are "not going to happen." However, as Woodward notes, the sequester was Obama's idea, and he subsequently signed it into law in the Budget Control Act. In addition, Obama privately continues to tout the sequester as proof that he is capable of reducing the budget deficit."
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/10/29/Obama-s-Sequester-Slashes-Funds-for-FEMA-Flood-Management— rudytbone - Yeah because the states are truly equipped to provide emergency relief. Stop the insanity. When you rail against the federal government and the role of government in general, you can't turn around and reverse your rhetoric at a time of crisis. If u preach against gov agencies like FEMA, own it when it hits the fan. Christie much to his credit realizes the important role of the federal gov. That's why he laughs at the tea party far right jokers. Now if he could just control his emotions and stop vilifying hardworking people, we would truly be in business.— slanted and enchanted
- So why is Obama cutting FEMA funding?— rudytbone
- Where's the coverage for the Delaware Bay side of the state?— quigly46
- Romney is now defender of FEMA? That's funny. Reality is almost all discretionary funding has be cut or futures increases limited due to the size of the budget along with several other issues (increased revenues, entitlement reform, limiting deductions).— PhillyGuy77
- Hey, Katz, want to retract your whining about the Gov closing the highways on Monday?? I guess saving lives is not above your political posturing. Get some objectivity.— JusWonderin
Reach him at mkatz@phillynews.com or 609-217-8355.
Follow Matt on Twitter: @mattkatz00. Reach Matt at mkatz@phillynews.com or 609-217-8355.
