Hurricane, New Jersey

Politics aside. Governor Chris Christie (R-New Jersey) and President Barack Obama. The president will visit the New Jersey area in regards to the major damage in the state and neighboring New York.

The Garden State has been hit badly by Hurricane Sandy. The Category 2 storm impacted a Nor'easter snow/rain storm becoming a superstorm. This gave the state of New Jersey a beating. Over 50 people and likely more have parished in this tragedy. President Barack Obama, Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-New York), Governor Chris Christie (R-New Jersey), New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and Mitt Romney issued statements about the situation.

The Jersey Shore, Atlantic City, Seaside Heights, were damaged. In the state of New York, the island of Manhattan (the heart of New York City), Long Island, Breezy Point, Rockaway and even the LaGuardia Airport (one of the three major airports in New York/New Jersey) were hit.

Crane collapsed in New York City.

Governor Chris Christie issued mandatory evacuations for all barrier islands from Sandy Hook to Cape May, along with the closure of all Atlantic City casinos. Tolls were suspended on the northbound Garden State Parkway and the westbound Atlantic City Expressway starting at 6:00 a.m. on October 28th.

President Obama signed an emergency declaration for New Jersey. The declaration allows the state to request federal funding and other assistance for actions taken prior to Sandy's landfall. On October 28th, Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer ordered an evacuation of all basement and street level residential units, due to possible flooding. On October 29th, a mandatory evacuation was put in effect for residents in some parts of Logan Township. On October 29th, Sandy made landfall near Atlantic City.

Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency for every county in the state. He also asked for a pre-disaster declaration to better access federal assistance. Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano ordered voluntary evacuations of the South Shore storm surge area, which includes the area south of Sunrise Highway and north of Route 25A and in elevations 15 feet above sea level or less on the North Shore

Mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters on October 26th that the city has begun taking precautions but said at this time there is no call for mandatory evacuations and no plans to suspend the city's mass transit or cancel school. But on October 28th Governor Cuomo ordered the MTA including the subway closed, and in a press conference immediately after Cuomo's announcement, Mayor Bloomberg ordered public schools closed on October 29th and mandatory evacuations for Zone A on Manhattan, which is the southern tip of the island as well as the Rockaways, a low-lying area of Queens.

Photo of the president talking with state governors hit by the hurricane.

The states of West Virginia and Maryland had damaging snow storms. Pennsylvania has severe flooding from major cities such as Harrisburg and Philadelphia. The state of Ohio got a heavy snow storm as well. Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, Washington, DC, the New England states and even portions of Canada were hit with damaging winds, heavy rain and erosion of land.

The storm started in the Gulf of Mexico, barreled through Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas before landing in the United States and then Canada.

Over 8.3 million without power and millions of residents homeless. The Atlantic coast, the Midwest and portions of the Southeast were destroyed by the impact of Hurricane Sandy.

Politics never took a break.

Governor Christie give a tongue lashing to the mayor of Atlantic City.

The Drudge Report post a Politico story that states the president's determination to help the victims of the hurricane. But under a misleading title, the story about going to Ready.gov and FEMA.gov if you need assistance relief was flooded with conservative word salad attacking him, Governor Christie, and the federal government. Regardless of what the president does, he's going to get vicious criticism from his political foes. And despite there arm ringing and keystroking by their conservative allies, Republicans are actually quiet on the response by the president.

The Mitt Romney presidential campaign couldn't do really much other than giving donations. But it hasn't stop the perennial candidate for president from campaigning. Campaigning in swing states of Florida, Iowa and Ohio has attracted strong criticism of him racing into the limelight (once again)!

In Dayton, Ohio, Mitt Romney tells his supporters to help the victims. Some criticized the move as political!

The Republicans was blasted by the Democrats over Mitt Romney's stance of FEMA. The Republicans took a strong stance against FEMA during the 2011 Hurricane Irene and during 2005 Hurricane Katrina.

Mitt Romney wants to privatize the government agency and let state governors determine who gets the disaster relief. When asked about it, Romney ducked and dodged it.

The president halted all presidential events. Mitt Romney will continue politics as usual (assured with donations) in each swing state. He also campaigning and putting money in Minnesota (over gay marriage legalization), Pennsylvania (for one more try) and Florida (leaning in his column).

The political campaign will start again on November 1st.

Images of the Hurricane Sandy and its damages.