President Obama Makes Unannounced Stop in Massachusetts

From Sunlen Miller: President Obama made an unannounced stop upon landing in Massachusetts at the headquarters for the emergency agency handling the response to the massive floods, to thank the workers and volunteers. The president, along with Gov. Deval Patrick, visited the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) in  Framingham, Mass., the state agency responsible for coordinating federal, state, local, voluntary and private resources during emergencies and disasters in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. About 50 people from different agencies around the state were sitting at desks scattered with phones, laptops, and maps, working at stations such as the “health and welfare group,”  “infrastructure group”, “emergency services group,” and “operations support group,” when the president and Mr. Patrick walked into the room. A large map of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was on the wall in the front of the room — with two projection screens on each side showing smaller maps of Massachusetts. One map showed “sandbag points of distribution.” The president spoke very briefly; his remarks amounting to a pat on the back for the workers responding to the floods. “What really matters is people on the ground, volunteers and people in the community pulling together in times like this,” Obama said, adding that the community and the nation is grateful for their work. Governor Deval Patrick has declared a statewide state of emergency, and mobilized the National Guard in response to the impact of the March 29th rain event that produced heavy rains, caused beach erosion, major flooding, and widespread road closures. After shaking hands with the workers, the president expressed some confidence. “Sounds like at least with some sunshine and sandbags we can hope for the best,” Obama said before leaving for two fundraisers in the Boston area. Tomorrow Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and FEMA Deputy Administrator Rich Serino will visit Rhode Island to tour some of the hardest-hit areas. UPDATE: At the top of his first of two fundraisers this evening in Boston, Massachusetts President Obama spoke on camera about the flooding sweeping across a large portion of New England. “All of our thoughts and prayers are with the families who have been dislocated and are wrestling with this enormous tragedy,” the president said. He said they are working “closely minute by minute with authorities,” in the affected states to provide assistance. “I want to thank personally local and state first responders who have been working tirelessly under difficult circumstances. I want to thank our team at FEMA that is fully engaged and committed to working with affected communities. Not only in terms of response efforts, but also in terms of rebuilding efforts.” The president said that during the time of some rhetoric about people who work in the government it’s nice to remembering that these are the people who help in time so tragedy like this. “It is worth reminding people at a time when folks who work in government don’t get enough credit, that when times are tough, when trouble arises, there are all kind of civil servants out there who are working 24-7 in order to help. And I think it’s worth remembering that when you hear some of the rhetoric nowadays.” This afternoon, the President also called the Rhode Island governor to discuss flood recovery efforts.  — Sunlen Miller