Mediaboss Marketing

PATERSON, NJ Thousands of people lined the streets of Paterson Sunday afternoon to greet President Barak Obama during his tour to witness the devastation brought by Hurricane Irene.

Boisterous crowds cheered Obamas motorcade as it rolled down Main Street towards the epicenter of the citys flooding. At Presidential Boulevard, folks who had been staying in shelters for much of the past weeks hailed Obama, whose visit provided Paterson a much-needed morale boost.

Speaking form the still-closed Temple Street bridge, the President promised the federal government would give New Jersey all the help it needs to rebound from the flooding.

The main message that I have for all the residents not only of New Jersey but all those communities that have been affected by flooding, by the destruction that occurred as a consequence of Hurricane Irene is that the entire country is behind you and we are going to make sure that we provide all the resources that are necessary in order to help these communities rebuild, Obama said.

Earlier in the week, Obama had declared New Jersey a disaster area.

Well, obviously visiting Wayne, visiting Paterson, many of these surrounding communities, gives you a sense of the devastation that's taken place not only here in New Jersey but in upstate New York and Vermont and a whole range of states that were affected by Hurricane Irene, the president said.

I want to thank Governor Christie, Mayor Jones, the entire congressional delegation that has coordinated in an unprecedented way to try to deal with this crisis, Obama continued. And part of what I think has helped to avert even worse tragedies and greater loss of life is because of the extraordinary responsiveness and farsighted thinking of state, local and federal personnel. I'm very proud of the work that FEMA has done not only from our central agency but, more importantly, the folks locally here on the ground who have been coordinating with the emergency management teams here in New Jersey.

Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. the opening of a Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster recovery center at the Paterson Museum, 2 Market Street. The center will be open from 8 am. to 6 p.m., seven days a week.

Obama also visited the Lowes store on McLean Boulevard, where he thanked volunteers for their efforts during the disaster.

So, again, I want to thank federal, state, local officials who have been working around the clock to respond to this crisis, the president said. We know it could have been worse but we should not underestimate the heartache that's going through a lot of these communities and affecting a lot of these families. And we want to make sure that we're there to help, and I'm going to make sure that even after the cameras are gone and attention is somewhere else that FEMA and federal officials continue to work with our local officials to make sure we're doing the right thing.

See original here:
Patersonians Turn Out to Embrace Obama - Paterson NJ News ...