By Nick Mann | 31 October 2012
US President Barack Obama has urged the federal government and agencies to ‘cut through bureaucracy’ in their response to ‘super-storm’ Sandy.
The storm, which was originally classed as a hurricane before being downgraded, has left at least 50 people dead in the Eastern US and Canada, after earlier killing more than 60 people in the Caribbean. Eight million homes have been left without power in the US, and the cost of clearing up has been reported as potentially being up to £24bn.
Speaking yesterday, Obama said that in some of the areas worst hit by the storm, including New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, the Federal Emergency Management Agency had been able to get more than 1,000 officials in place before Sandy hit. Emergency services had also been able to stay up-and-running, he added.
He noted, however, that in New Jersey and parts of New York, up to 90% of people were without power. ‘We can't have a situation where that lasts for days on end, and so my instructions to the federal agency has been, do not figure out why we can't do something; I want you to figure out how we do something. I want you to cut through red tape. I want you to cut through bureaucracy.
‘There’s no excuse for inaction at this point. I want every agency to lean forward and to make sure that we are getting the resources where they're needed as quickly as possible.’
The president declared a ‘major disaster’ in both New York and New Jersey, making federal funding available to help individuals affected by the storm. State and local governments and some non-profit bodies can also use the funds on a cost-sharing basis for clean-up and ‘emergency protective’ measures.
Obama is expected to visit some of the areas hit worst by the storm later today, postponing appearances he had planned to make in Ohio as part of his US presidential election campaign.
With the November 6 election date less than a month away, his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, also avoided campaigning yesterday, although he is expected to attend rallies in Florida later today.
The damage caused by Sandy has swung the spotlight on Romney’s stance on the Federal Emergency Management Agency, after he said last year that he supported the idea of state and private sector bodies taking over responsibility for disaster relief. He was reported to have refused to answer questions on his earlier comments during interviews yesterday.
