by President Barack Obama is getting ready for Irene. Hurricane Irene, that is. Making sure not to get caught in the situation that the federal government had with their failed response to Hurricane Katrina, the Obama administration is taking great pains to provide aid to those in need this time around.
A Public Display
Yesterday, the administration made its aid efforts quite public. Returning home one day early from his summer vacation, Obama visited the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). He checked with the National Response Coordination Center as well.Before one drop of rain hit the area, he declared a federal emergency for a large swath of states including Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Virginia, so that they will be able to get the federal financing they need.While visiting FEMA headquarters, Obama said,
“It’s going to be a long 72 hours.”
Massive Swirl Heading Our Way
To put the incoming hurricane in perspective, a recent photo taken by astronauts at the international space station shows an enormous white mass coming towards the U.S. Brian NcNoldy, a research associate of the Department of Atmospheric Research at Colorado State University said, “If you were to just put it on a map of the United States, it would go from South Florida to Pennsylvania, and from North Carolina to eastern Oklahoma.”