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                 Obama to Storm Victims: 'America is With You'

   by Margaret Besheer

   U.S. President Barack Obama has told Americans affected by the super
   storm that ravaged parts of the East Coast of the United States that
   "America is with you."  Recovery efforts began Tuesday in hard hit
   areas, particularly in New York and New Jersey, which were impacted by
   the storm known as Sandy.  The storm caused billions of dollars in
   damage and killed at least 32 people in the United States.
   The president spoke from the Washington headquarters of the American
   Red Cross.  He said the country would stand behind storm victims and
   help them recover.
   "My message to the governors and the mayors - and through them the
   communities that have been hit so hard - is that we are going to do
   everything we can to get resources to you and make sure that any unmet
   need that is identified, we are responding to it as quickly as
   possible," Obama said.
   ''
   There are many needs, especially in New York, New Jersey and
   Connecticut, where millions are without power, transit systems have
   ground to a halt, and roads are littered by fallen trees and other
   debris.  In one Queens, New York neighborhood, 80 houses were damaged
   or destroyed by fires sparked by the storm and spread by its winds.
   New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said it would be several days
   before this city of more than 8 million people is back to normal.
   There is flooding to several subway tunnels and damage to tracks and
   some 750,000 New Yorkers are without electricity.
   "You should expect, given the extent of the damage, power may be out in
   lots of places for two or three days and maybe even a little bit longer
   than that," Bloomberg said.
   The mayor said public schools would remain closed through Wednesday.
   Area airports also sustained damage, with flooded runways canceling
   thousands of flights.  John F. Kennedy International Airport was
   expected to reopen Wednesday, but New York's other major air hub,
   LaGuardia Airport, was expected to remain closed.
   New York is the United States' financial capital and the state's
   governor, Andrew Cuomo, said he is "cautiously optimistic" that Wall
   Street will come back online Wednesday.  But as for other services, he
   warned residents that the cleanup process would not be quick or easy.
   "This is not going to be a short-term situation.  This a long-term
   recovery and reconstruction effort and that is the way we need to think
   about it," Cuomo said.
   But for the most part, New Yorkers were trying to take Sandy in stride.
   In the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood, residents were emerging from
   their homes Tuesday, exploring the area which is close to the East
   River and assessing damage.
   Resident Conor O'Shea said he was grateful that the area escaped the
   high waters that swept through lower Manhattan "We really didn't see
   any of the major flooding that lower Manhattan saw, so we were lucky,"
   O'Shea said.
   But he admitted that dealing with no subways and few buses for the
   coming days would be a challenge.
   "Yeah, it is going to be an issue, so we will see how that goes.
   Hopefully they will get it back up sooner rather than later," O'Shea
   said.
   Eric, a tourist from Paris, France, arrived two days before Sandy and
   said he was impressed by how New Yorkers were handling the storm's
   aftermath.
   "It's beautiful to see how people here are already working to repair,
   to cut the trees, and everything," Eric said.
   North of New York, in the state of Connecticut, several coastal
   communities were pounded by the storm.  Severe flooding and downed
   trees have left nearly 600,000 residents without electricity.
   New Jersey was also badly hit.  More than 2.4 million households were
   without power on Tuesday and roads and rail systems there were shut
   down.  Many seaside communities sustained severe damage.  Governor
   Chris Christie told reporters that some beach homes were swept off
   their foundations and at one amusement park, some of the rides had
   ended up in the Atlantic Ocean.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-storm-recovery/1536318.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-storm-recovery/1536318.html