we'll hear from craig fugate in a moment but we have team coverage of where the irene is headed. julie is in battery park that faces a threat of the a serious storm surge. >>reporter: yes serious storm surge. loir manhattan and battery park in particular is ground zero for this storm. mainlyy because of the electric supply here and the tide. the tide is reaching high tide. 8:00 this morning and expected storm surge of 8 feet would mean that lower manhattan, much of it would get flooded. we have seen flooding knee deep and the hudson river overflowing in lower manhattan and meat packing district north of here. zone a is where i stand. mandatory evacuation issued here which meant 350,000 people in here and rockaways and queens and coney ilandd. flooding and street and bridge closures and the george washington bridge, lower deck closed earlier today. and all of the bridges will remain open as longg as the winds don't get up to sustained 60 miles per hour wind. we have had gusts up to 60 miles per hour and so it looks good there. we are hearing that the linn contunnel. outbound. not

white house briefing room where any minute pres secretary jay carney is expected to be joined by craig fugate, and fema's relief as well as the cost that a lot of people are talking about the staggering amount of money to help those in need. and ron bloom is in brattleboro, vermont to, follow the flooding there. >> tamron, we are here where the water is spilling out of dams and reservoirs into trib towers -- tributaries. if you look at the fast-water rising you are seeing the mississippi last spring and seeing tires and pieces of refrigerators and propane tanks and enormous trees and tree trunks pushed down this river. now the governor of vermont was just in brattleboro a short time ago and he did confirm that there are multiple communities still isolated and still trying to get n because of the height of the flash flood yesterday afternoon, every road and highway in vermont was affected or closed. those barriers coming down today in most areas in those communities where they were trying to get in because of the rising water. still one fatality confirmed, but the governor was not willing to s

in addition to administrator fugate who i believe is a great administrator. by the way, he has over seven hurricanes under his back, inch including hurricane katrina and wilma and charlie and some of others, somef us have on a first-name basis with the hurricanes. therefore, the media attention is a reminder how serious we should take these situations. one thing i think the governors should prepare for now, once the evacuees able to return home to assess the damage, to get out front in terms of helping those who are uninsured, many people on the eastern seaboard do not have flood insurance, for example, once you start to deal with the insurance companies in terms s whether it's the wind that caused the damage versus the rain or the water. there are a lot of complicated issues. so the federal government will have to stay involved to help -- not only the state government, the local government but also residents who are now going to return home and find they may not have power for two or three weeks. and guess what, their roof is probably damaged by the water, n

fugate, good to have you with us this morning. i know the president has convened you and others on his team to get the latest updates. at this point, what is the headline from this storm? >> i think the big headline is power outages. you know, we've got damages down in virginia and north carolina from flooding and storm surge, river flooding, but i think most people are being impacted across the area, really with power outages right now. >> what about flooding? we're talking about surges in the new york city area and that part, as you go up the coast a little bit into new england. how is that affecting everyone also on the new jersey coast? >> well, yes. as governor christie said, they already have a person missing, and that's why it's critical people stay inside, stay off the roads. i'll give you an example down in north carolina where irene first came ashore, they were reporting over 76 swift water rescues where we had to rescue people in the storm. so we expect the rivers are still coming up. we have more rescues that will be r

fugate questions on irene and then i will take your questions on other issues. >> condolences to the families who lost loved ones. irene was a deadly storm. about 21, and we know that there are several people still missing. one of the things about these types of storms -- the death toll may go up in their corporate face. -- may go up during the recovery phase. use common sense, be cautious, don't drive flu flooded area -- through flooded areas. to the families who have lost loved ones, our condolences. tropical storm irene dissipated and moved into canada, but in its path as a hurricane, we started out in puerto rico but most of the damages in puerto rico -- are providing assistance there. prior to the arrival of hurricane irene, we had an incident management team, federal employees of fema who are trained to go in and bulink up with the state. we are prepared to support them in the preparation phase and the immediate response face. 18 of those teams deployed across the east coast. as we saw the track of the storm ji just, we became concerned about possible impacts. we provided water

we'll hear here from craig fugate. >> thank you, madam secretary. i've got on the image the is the light loop, the visible loop of irene, the center of which is about 50 miles to the west of cape hatteras moving to the north-northeast at about 15 miles per hour. the outer banks and nags head area are going to be impacted over the next several hours. next in line is through tidewater, norfolk area. they're already having adverse conditions there. i'm talked to several relatives in the area where the rainfall has been incredibly heavy, and the water levels are coming up now. i'd like to also report a good story coming out of that. the information they've gotten in advance of this storm from local officials of what to do or not do in the event of the storm has been outstanding. it fits right in with what they should be doing. next picture, please. radar imagery of this. we see these bands coming around the top here. every now and then one of those will take on a characteristic on radar from our local forecast office on issue tornado warnings on those.

. >> with us now fema administrator craig fugate, mr. fugate, you just heard what chris christie had to say about this oncoming storm. a hurricane expert on the weather channel just said, and this is a quote, this storm has the makings of the hurricane of our lifetime for the mid-atlantic and the northeast. so, i know you have to walk the line between overreaction and underreaction, but is it that serious? >> well, i think it's important that people take steps to get ready. i mean, this is going to be a hard call. we know north carolina's going to probably get a landfall with a major hurricane, but along the i-95 corridor, you know, we're getting forecasts of that potential storm surge, heavy rains and damaging winds could impact a lot of folks, and i think really what we want people to do is take it serious. get ready. people still have time. the carolinas you are evacuating, but for a lot of other folks, you still have time to get ready, but you'll not have much more time. and getting prepared is the key part of this to reduce the impa

now i'd like to ask secretary napolitano and administrator fugate to say a few words. janet? >> thank you. thank you, mr. president. and i'd like to echo the president's comments about the ongoing threat from hurricane irene. we will be dealing with the impacts of this storm over the coming days, and i urge all americans to take prudent steps to stay safe. now, dealing with a storm like this requires a three-phase approach. preparation, response and recovery. some states and communities are still currently responding, while others are beginning to assess their damages and plan for recovery. as response assets are freed up in states already impacted by the storm, we will begin moving them to help with ongoing response. and we will be working with all other states throughout the recovery period. i'd also like to thank the entire team that is working so hard to respond to irene. and that team includes the american people. thanks to all of you who prepared, especially those who followed local evacuation order. your actions helped protect not only your families and minimize loss o

he's talking to minister fugate and secretary napolitano. what he's doing differently, he's getting ahead of it, he's getting in front of it, and he's put the right people in charge. >> are there people in the white house right now most likely saying you've got to worry about the politics. it looks bad. you're on a golf course. does that matter, or are people legitimately just saying he takes the job and the crisis with him, and he manages it? >> look, i think he takes the job and the crisis with him and he manages it. what's going to be remembered is not what he does the day or two before this thing hits, but how well the administration handles the disaster if the worst happens and the disaster does hit. as i say, i think the key decision was made here two years ago when he picked craig fugate to be head of fema. there's no one who's handled more hurricanes at the state level than craig fugate. he was the chief of disaster response in florida when they were hit with more hurricanes than any year in the state's history. obviously, george bus

and the administrator fugate will detail the efforts. every storm's prediction is a bit of science and art. this has moved in and moved out and moved east and west. it has been a category three. it has been a category two. given the amount of rain associated with the storm and likelihood of flooding, i would encourage you not to focus too much on a category two or three if you are in the storm path. you will not be able to tell much difference. let me introduce bill reid of the national hurricane center. he will give you the update on the storm and its path. we will turn it over to administrative fugate. bill. >> thank you, secretary napolitano. very good words about not getting turned away with the details of the category. right now, irene is a classically-shaped hurricane except one feature. we don't have the clear, well defined eye in the center. the reason we may not be seeing higher wind speeds than we are given the low pressure with the great organization. this image points out clearly why we started evacuations well in advance of

and fema and craig fugate, the director of fema, will be keeping people closely posted in the next 24, 48 hours. thank you very much. >> there we have it. president obama speaking from martha's vineyard, telling us federal resources are in place for the storm and its aftermath now, pointing out what fema has done. also the fact that the president has been speaking with governors and mayors along the eastern seaboard to express the fact they'll have the full support of the administration, however this storm plays out. joining us is msnbc's mike viqueira, our white house correspondent. and joins us now to talk more about this. mike, the president not saying anything about leaving, not getting rattled by an earthquake, moammar or irene. >> that's right. the president and his family continuing their ninth day of a ten-day viks acation on martha' vineyard. the president is scheduled to leave there tomorrow saturday, well before the worst of it gets up there. 65 million people, american citizens, potentially in the path of this storm, thomas. the president, almost as if the mayor in chief,

i spoke to craig fugate, the head of fema, the federal emergency management agency. he's been briefing the president regularly, and i spoke with him a short time ago in washington. craig fugate, welcome. this is both, of course, a national issue and an intensely local one. what's your main priority right now? >> well, the main priority for everybody is supporting the evacuations that the local officials are having to order and may have to add to as the storm moves north. and getting ready for the immediate response afterwards and supporting the governors as they prepare for hurricane irene. >> brown: are you satisfied with these evacuations orders and the orders so far? >> well yeah, i think the local officials are doing a good job. they know their areas. the hurricane center is providing the best possible information and we're seeing a lot of activity. and people are not even waiting for the evacuation orders, a lot are taking the time to get to a safe area just in case. >> and when you're looking at such a huge swathe of the country, the whole eastern coast, what k

the president's emergency response team is headed up by fema administrator craig fugate who's been kind enough to join us from washington, d.c. i know you're in the business of tough calls and having ridden out katrina inside the superdome and in those days after that, i watched a lot of officials and politicians make some perfectly awful calls. do you feel at this point in the storm you've got it about right heading up the i-95 corridor? >> well, i do know this, this storm is going to have impact, no matter how well we prepare or how good the forecast. a lot of people are going to lose power, a lot of people are going to get damage from this storm, a lot of flooding, that's why we're asking people to heed the evacuation orders. >> and what, sir, is the risk that we're going to have, i heard today from three to six feet of standing water, above street level on a good portion of the east coast, from the tide water, newport news, all the way up to the new york metropolitan area, long island, new england. and the possibility of people actually being cut off, on their own camping for three

joining me now, craig fugat, head of fema, as we all know it. craig, it's nice to have you on this morning, and i know you're taking to twitter and other social media to get the word out about this to people. how concerned, in your estimation, should people be as they watch this storm, as they watch irene unfold? >> let's make sure that we understand that, you know, this is not just a point on the map and that if people are ready, if they've got their plans and they've got their supplies, what they need to do is monitor to the storm. i would say the people that need to be concerned are the people who haven't gotten ready, don't know if they live in an evacuation zone, don't know what they're going to do if irene threatens their community. if you've got your plans and your supplies, you're good. if you don't, get ready. >> it's about having that plan in place so you can pull the trigger if you need to. it's the 19th anniversary of hurricane andrew. that's one of the most powerful storms to hit the u.s. this storm nowhere close to that. where are

craig fugate what do we do to get ready? if you are home right now and watching you saying this looks bad. should ing at flashlights going to the grocery store. should i get water? batteries? what about my cell phone? can you tell me? what should i be doing? >> start with the basics. first question, do you live in evacuation zone. if you are not sure, find out now. and if you are in that evacuation zone, you need to move you and your family and your pets to a safe location. that's the first step. >> juan: hang on mr. fugate, evacuation zone basically that means you are on the coast, right? >> yeah. if you are on the coast in some of the low lying areas, find out from your local officials if you are in that evacuation zone and if the evacuation order is given, you need evacuate, move to higher ground. that's step one. >> juan: okay. all right. >> step two, there is a lot of things you need to do. we made it simple for you. go to ready.gov. there is a checklist of supplies. things you mentioned are exactly what you want to do.

fugate will be here tomorrow. but really what he said is governor, i want to do whatever i can do to help vermont dig out -- >> but what do you need right now, because you have people who are isolated in small communities. so what do you need from the federal government? >> well, the biggest thing we need right now is resources bigger than ourselves. we're kind of self-reliant up here in vermont, self-sufficient. we don't ask for much, but we're at a time where we need resources in terms of water, food, engineering help so we can get water systems and sewer systems up. we continue to struggle with huge challenges. we just got absolutely whacked by the flooding. >> when you say totally isolated, you mean without any communication, you don't know whether people are sick? you don't know whether they're injured? >> no, we're in there. the red cross and fema is on the ground, but the challenges that in many of the smaller communities, they can't get out if they need to, to hospitals, without helicopters. we don't have

administrator fugate will detail some of those efforts. this one has moved in and moved out and moved east and moved west and has been a category 3 and has been category two. i would encourage you not to focus too much on whether it is a category two or three. if you're in the storm's path, you will not be able to tell. who me introduce phil reed, will give the the most current update of the storm and its path and then we'll turn it over to administrator fugate. >> thank you. right now irene is a classically shaped hurricane except we do not have that well defined eye in the center. that may be the reason we're not seeing higher wind speeds then we are. this points out the evacuations. the early onset of tropical storms in the carolinas will begin this afternoon. they were beginning to evacuate people yesterday. in jacksonville, florida, it is moving steadily toward the coast. this is the imagery we used to highlight some of the features in the atmosphere. you probably heard neurologist's talking about what might change the track of the st

administrator fugate, we appreciate it. thank you. now, let's go to other issues. >> can you talk about alan krueger's appointment today? he's a previous member of the administration who seems to be viewed as a continuity pick. does that suggest that the president likes how his economic team is composed and doesn't see the need to shake it up? >> i think he picked dr. krueger because he's an excellent economist whose particular skills are more relevant than ever in the economic environment we find ourselves in. he brings a lot of experience to the table both as an academic and through his service in the treasury department of this administration, the labor department of the clinton administration. his expertise in the labor market is particularly relevant as we focus on the need to grow the economy and increase job creation. so he looked for the best possible choice and found him in dr. krueger. >> do you believe that he'll bring new ideas to the table? >> i believe that he's an excellent economist and a dynamic economist with a lot o

that is what i have and i'll introduce craig fugate to talk about what all of the impact will be for their operations. >> good morning, everybody, as the secretary talked about, we already have our teams linked in with the governor's teams and the state emergency operations centers, primarily folks on the evacuation support now, but, also, preparing for the immediate impact and the aftermath. one thing i think we have to really emphasize here, as well as the forecast has been, all the steps of preparation, it does not mean there will not be damages. it does not mean that power will not go out over large areas and that it will take some time to get things back to normal. that is why it's so important for people to prepare and the one thing we can change the outcome on, is loss of life. that is why the evacuation orders that are being issued in the coastal areas are key. people need to leave early. travel safe distance and get somewhere safe, not wait for another forecast. all of the planning and preparation will be in vain if people don't heed the evacuation orders and as the secretar

i'm joined by the director the national hurricane center and by the fema administrator craig fugate on an update on irene. let me express condolences to those families who have lost loved ones in the course of this storm. even though the storm has now been downgraded to come and poses no less of a threat to communities in its path. we encourage individuals to listen to this as we move through the response. and we just concluded it briefing president obama on our ongoing efforts to support the state's being affected. he has instructed us to continue moving forward on our response. our number one message for individuals and families up and down the eastern seaboard this morning is that we are not out of the would get. irene remains a large and potentially dangerous storm and hazards still persist. right now, hurricane irene's moving up the coast around the day. if you are in any of those communities, please stay away from the shoreline. mid-atlantic states need to stay focused on search and rescue. power outages remain an issue all up and down the coast. we are working with our private s

we will hear from craig fugate, and major blood from the salvation army. thank you for joining us on a saturday morning. as expected, hurricane irene made landfall earlier this morning along the north carolina coast. i've spoken to the governor this morning. she said they were hunkered down. they are ready to do damage assessments as soon as possible, especially for assets like the bridges and roads. irene remains a large and dangerous storm. people need to take it seriously, and people need to be prepared. as we have suggested, think of this in three phases -- preparation, response, and recovery act. some of our states are moving into the response mode. other states, as you are for their north are still in preparation mode. if you are receiving a warning to evacuate, please do so. even if you have not done so, -- received a warning, please stay inside, stay off of the roads so they can be clear for emergency vehicles for our first responders. we anticipate heavy rain, potential flooding, and significant power outages throughout the area of the storm, whic

fugate, you seem to be concerned about what may about to happen. >> obviously, a pretty good size hurricane out there, a category 3. again, this is a threat from the carolinas all the way up through the new england states. an area that hasn't seen a lot of hurricanes. we're trying to get people to pay attention and get ready now. >> where exactly is irene right now? and where are you fearing it may be heading? >> right now, still in the bahamas, some strengthening, as the hurricane center forecasts, it looks like it will begin impacting the outer banks of north carolina probably as early as friday. so again, it's really important that people heed any protective actions, evacuation orders. this is a storm that's going to stay close to, or along the east coast, all the way up through new england from the last forecast from the hurricane center. so it's going to be a weekend that people need to be ready to act, if required. >> the storm is getting stronger, is that right? >> yeah, it was a category 1 last night. it became a category 2, now category 3. possibly even a category 4 wind speeds. th

craig fugate is currented administrator is going an outstanding job. the initial response belongs to the local and states. they're doing an outstanding job. we've seen all of the governors up front not only telling people what to do, but how to do it. telling them what is expected to do. i've been pleased with the response. i have to tell you that. >> you know, in about two or three weeks, the attention that we're all giving this because it's in the moment goes away and then you do start seeing the political fights on funding on prioritizing. when you were at fema and you were in the middle of some of these political fights you wnt trying to have them, you're getting drawn into them. how do you keep going and fight for some extra funding that i know you need and at the same time try to keep the politics out of it? >> the whole purpose of the disaster relief fund is for what we're looking at right now. they help people get back on their feet that don't have insurance. help communities and states to rebuild the public infrastructure has been damaged. tha

we're joined now on the phone by fema administrator craig fugate. craig, thanks for joining us. where are you guys sending your people right now? >> from north carolina all the way through to maine. we have teams in north carolina, teams going in to the mid-atlantic states, teams going in to the new england states. so we've been getting folks ahead of the storm, and also sending supplies in ahead of the storm. >> what are you telling people? obviously the story always goes some people just don't want to leave. they want to stay no matter the danger. how serious do people need to know this storm is, and why do they need to go if they're in the evacuated areas? >> well, it's the storm surge, which, for a lot of people, is hard to explain. but think about this. think about a tide with big waves coming in that doesn't go out and those waves are pounding everything in its path. that's the problem in the low-lying areas, that storm surge can be deadly. you don't get a second chance if it's too late. and that's why you need to go early. and again we know there's going to be a lot of tr

. >>> here with me, craig fugate. give us a sense where you are right now, where the preparations are along the east coast. >> right now, basically north carolina through maine. hurricane warnings out to new england. so, again, the evacuations are starting to move up the coast. we've had north carolina evacuating and they're expecting to storm to make impact and early in the morning hours. we're rapidly moving to prepare to be ready to respond after the storm makes landfall. >> the former hurricane center director, the legendary max mayfield, told the a.p., this quote read a million times today. unbelievable. max said, one of my greatest nightmares was having a major hurricane go up the whole northeast coast. so what are you going to do? how are you feeling about making sure that this which clearly is a massive storm and has the potential to wreak so much devastation is going to be minimized as much as is humily possible? humanly possible? >> i don't think you can minimize damages. even with a good team it won't preve

. >> reporter: fema director craig fugate and his team are keeping president obama up to date as hurricane irene approaches the coast. >>> just ahead on the "morning news" irene hasn't even hit but gas prices are already headed higher. >>> plus it may be tough getting around this weekend even if you're not in the storm zone. we'll tell you why. this is the "cbs morning news." e and a breakthrough formula that nourishes deep down, like no other. dove body wash. proven effective natural nourishment. look at all this stuff for coffee. oh there's tons. french presses, espresso tampers, filters. it can get really complicated. not nearly as complicated as shipping it, though. i mean shipping is a hassle. not with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. that is easy. best news i've heard all day! i'm soooo amped! i mean not amped. excited. well, sort of amped. really kind of in between. have you ever thought about decaf? do you think that would help? yeah. priority mail flat rate shipping starts at just $4.95, only fr

he'll have a chance to express that sentiment of the needs here in paterson alone to napolitano and fugate when he sees them this afternoon. tamron? >> thank you. right now relief workers in vermont are funneling supplies to towns that are completely cut off by irene and left without running water or power since this weekend. only one town, wardsboro, has not been reached. that has forced national guard helicopters to airlift food and medicine to the people trapped this. nbc's ron mott is tracking the relief efforts from rutland, vermont. a lot of damage and debris behind you, ron. >> reporter: hey there, tamron. good day to you. you mentioned the relief drop from the vermont national guard. there's one expected to land here in about 30 minutes. we're actually in killington at the popular ski resort. there's a little babbling brook babbling here. emfranzen has a raging river. we have a brook here, 10, 15 feet wide but it was enough water to take down part of this lodge here. the bar and restaurant area will have to be razed at some point. what officials want to do is sheer this off. this i

he'll give you an update on the storm itself, and then you'll hear from craig fugate. bill? >> thank, madame secretary. i've got it on the image here, the satellite loop, the visible loop of irene. the center of which is now about 50 miles to the west of cape hatteras, moving to the north-northeast at about 15 miles an hour. the outer banks, nags head outer banks areas are going to be impacted over the next several hours. next in line is the tide water hampton roads, norfolk area. they're already having adverse conditions there. i've talked to several relatives in the area, where the rainfall has been incredibly heavy and the water levels are coming up now. i'd like to also report that a good story coming out of that, the information they've gotten in advance of this storm from the local officials on what to do or not to do in the event of this storm has just been outstanding. it fits right in with what they should be doing. next picture, please? radar imagery of this -- where you see these bands coming around the top here, every now and then, one of those will take on a cha

host: fema 8 administrator craig fugate. what did it look like from where you were watching, stephen? caller: thank you for taking my call. you know what gets me is ron paul just came out and blasted fema for katrina. he has a republican. he ought to know that katrina happened under a republican president. this president has done everything he could to straighten up fema and get everything working right. if you listen to -- you had on fugate the other day talking about the changes. they had a press conference. they are doing everything right. you learn from katrina, which still has republicans saying we don't need fema no more. you know, if you know what federal government -- if you don't want federal government, just get a passport, jump on an airplane, and go to wherever you want to go that doesn't have a government and be happy there and live on your own. host: bill writes on twitter. california. independent line. welcome. caller: hello? host: hi there. caller: i heard during the hurricane that there was -- [unintelligibl

commissioner fugate will give you details. this storm has mov in. it has moved east and west it is the category three and category two. given the amount of rain associated with the storm and the likelihood of flooding, however, i would encourage you not to focus too much on whether it is a category two or three. if you are in the storm passed, if you will not be able to tell much difference. let me add traduced bill read of the national hurricane center. -- let me introduce bill reed the national hurricane center. then we will turn it over to administrator fate. >> right now irene is a classically shaped hurricane except for one feature. has that well-defined eye. the reason we are not seeing higher wind speeds that we are -- this points out very clearly why we have evacuation's ahead of a hurricane. there are tropical storm conditions around the course. -- r.l. the coast. this is why your emergency officials were in evacuating people yterday. it has been steadily moving towards the coast. this imagery highlights some of the features in the atmosphe

. >> reporter: homeland security secretary janet napolitano and fema director craig fugate will see the flooding for sthechthem today when they visit new jersey. tuesday they'll visit three other states including hard hit vermont. the national guard is having to use helicopters to deliver food and water to some towns still cut off. irene's torrential rains washed out hundreds of roads and dozens of bridges in the state. crews are already working to rebuild the crumbled infrastructure. this emergency road was built in just eight hours, engineers didn't wait for approval to move this creek. >> we'll apologize later. it had to be done. >> reporter: there's no time to waste in a state dealing with its worst flooding in a century. and today, amtrak will resume service between philadelphia and new york city, one of the busiest travel corridors in the northeast. the holdup there was extreme flooding at the trenton rail station, that has now been repaired. terrell? >> jessica stone getting us started from washington this morning, thank you so much. >>> more on weather now reminder that hurrican

. >>> as fema director craig f fugate tours areas hit by hurricane katrina, the question is can washington put partisanship aside to help support the victims of this terrible disaster? >>> plus, new details about the president's new job creation plan for the u.s. the question is will his ideas be bold enough for the president's base? >>> and still no sign of

now i would like to ask secretary napolitano and administrator fugate to say a few words. janet. >> thank you. thank you, mr. president. and i would like to echo the president's comments about the ongoing threat from hurricane irene. we will be dealing with the impacts of this storm over the coming days and i urge all americans to take prudent steps to stay safe. now dealing with a storm like this requires a three-phase approach, preparation, response, and recovery. some states and communities are still currently responding while others are beginning to assess their damages and plan for recovery. assets are freed up in states already impacted by the storm, we will begin moving them to help with ongoing response and we will be working with all other states throughout the recovery period. i would also like to thank the entire team that is working so hard to respond to irene and that team includes the american people. thanks to all of you who prepared, especially those who followed local evacuation orders. your actions help protect not only your families and minimize loss of

fugate. since you worked on hurricane katrina and this hurricane, what did you personally see the differences? has the red tape actually been cut enough where you felt easy to be able to maneuver to get assistance to people this hurricane versus katrina? >> you know, you talk about the processes and the mechanics behind it. in this administration from my earliest events when i came on board, america -- supporting in haiti. the floods in tennessee. obviously this year. the one thing impressed upon me by the president is we go as a federal team and bring all our resources together. i think there's a lot of things that when we do it as a team and we understand that you cannot have separate -- you can't look at local government, state government, federal government, the volunteers and the private sector as distinct entities and be success fum. you got to look as a team. what one of the things impressed upon me and we try to practice, we're not a team. we're part of a team. we have to bring all of

i'm joined by fema administrator craig fugate, live in washington. good to see you again. thank you for joining us. we have been showing people our possible projections given to us by the weather service about where this is going to go. and at this point the cone of uncertainty remains pretty unclear. i guess we know it is -- it is going to get pretty close to or on to the outer banks and then who knows what happens on the northeast. what's your biggest concern right now? >> i think the biggest concern is getting people to pay attention and make sure they are ready. if you are your plan and your supplyings aies and check every the only thing you need is if you are in the evacuation zone you need to be ready go. this storm is one you need to pay attention to and be ready. if you have your plans and your -- got everything you need and you are ready to go, then -- just monitor the storm. if you haven't done those steps, you still have time. >> we are talking about maybe coming on land in a category 3, category 2. maybe category 1 by the time it hits the weekend and northeast.

i su a tweet from craig fugate, from fema, reminding people not to drive through your water. >> water is wnot your friend. there are more deaths from trying to drive through water after the hurricane. >> that's right. >> in jersey, the smell of gasoline is in the air, people are revving up their chainsaws and same on the shores of north carolina. the outer banks were slammed so hard, some areas are only accessible by chopper right now. pounding surf watched over do you knows, covering roads. water and sand all in one big mess right now, stranding 2,500 people who didn't leave hatteras island. an emergency ferry will be spent there. the governor says, quite frankly, it could be 2 1/2 months before a permanent way to get out there. some of those people, every day, commute in by ferry to the mainland. very slow going there. that is closed for the season now. >> the navy is sending three war ships to the east coast to help with the post irene effort. heading toward the north carolina coast right now to help in the search and rescue effort. david mattingly is in kill devil hills, north car

fugate, thanks very much for coming in. >> thank you, sir. >> you just heard the president, he wants to make sure you're getting everything you need. are you getting everything you need? normally we hear from states, if fema's doing everything they can. do you have everything you need right now? >> yes, the support and response again we've been talking with the states, we have daily conference calls. one of the things we've been working on is trying to stay ahead of what they may need as we move from response to recovery and as you said in some parts of the area of impact we're very much still concerned about the flooding and what the weather service tells us may be another two, three days before some of these rivers will crest. >> but money is becoming an increasingly big problem for fema, you're telling us. you're running out of money in short, right? >> well, we reached a point where we felt it was prudent not to continue to fund new work and older disasters but to continue funding support for the survivors of previous disasters as well as being able to ensure that we could undert

craig fugate heads the fema organization. he brought to the job a wealth of experience, having served eight years as a director of emergency management. during his tenure, there was the first statewide emergency management program in the nation to receive full accreditation from the emergency management accreditation program. so kudos to mr. fugate. brings the boats on the ground experience -- he brings the the ground experience. he was a lieutenant in a county fire rescue team. he has served in a wealth of rescue positions. i think you'll find him quite interesting. [applause] >> good afternoon. we're live and being taped. i was asked to talk about a whole community. this is something that fema is talking about and people ask, what do they mean about a whole community? what is involved? it is not mysterious. i think what happened was my staff got tired of using my talking points so they started calling it a whole community. i referred to as emergency management. when we respond to disasters, who are we serving? who is the te

fugate, who is he talking to? >> mr. brennan is the primary contact. he had been the primary point of contact. at this stage, the most important thing is for the professionals at the mud to be in connection with their counterparts at the state and local level. that is where this preparation effort will be administered. so that effort is underway. there are a couple of teams that have already been deployed to north carolina and virginia. some commodity stocks that have been deployed to make sure that they can be delivered quickly if needed. that court nation is going on -- coordination is going on between federal response officials and state and local response officials. >> can you tell us, other than the readouts that we have seen, perhaps some names of celebrities or business leaders that the president has spent time with, people that have come to visit him? >> one of the reasons the president wanted to spend some down time was to get the opportunity to get away from the limelight a little bit. certainly, he cannot do that completely. he has had some

this is something that fema administrator craig fugate addressed yesterday in a conference call with reporters, the importance of communication. in all likelihood this is important to remember, so important to remember with this hurricane barreling down on the east coast of the united states again that cell phones simply don't work under these emergency situations. the one device that does work in all likelihood, the best chances of working is a battery-powered two-way radio. this is absolutely essential for first responders, but fugate also mentioned it may be essential for family, at the very least he said it's important for families to consider some plan of communication before a disaster strikes, not during the disaster, and not after the disaster. so consider that for your family as this hurricane approaches the east coast. again, we are expecting that press conference with governor bob mcdonnell and eric cantor to get underway moments from now. megyn: i thought it was interesting earlier today you talked about speaking with folks on the ground down there who spoke of the consid

we've been talking to senator leahy about the damage and the fema administrator, craig fugate started speaking by saying, you never thought you'd be talking about a hurricane in verm month. >> who would have thought that you would be evacuating vermont because of the hurricane. and when you have big rivers flooding, there are days and weeks in advance. flash flooding is literally how much rain is issuing those advisories, getting people to safety. and the governor in his team, the national officials and also and the emergency declaration. that's the first step in providing assistance. focused on the missions. we are also beginning to do the damage assessments to determine what other equipment will be required and working with the governor and his team as we go road by road, washout by washout, to look at the damages and the homes impact. but our commit on behalf of the president is to work with the governor's team in this first critical phase. it's the most important time frame to make sure that we are stable and then we'll work with the governor and his team on what available assista

craig fugate with fema. thank you very much. we certainly do appreciate it. >> thank you. >>> my family keeps saying this is a switch. usually i'm worried about them when a hurricane is going. so, , 's so unusual for us up here. sam, you have more details for us. >> now we've heard all the theories. and heard where it could go, how it could strengthen or not. let's put it in real numbers based on the track that we have right now from the hurricane center. who gets rain, would gets wind and how much. so, if this follows the track, remember, if it follows the track here's what happened. cape gets 8 to 13 inches all the way up the coastline. jersey shore, even new york city getting that much rain through that area. so, 6 to 12 inches of rain is likely and even a foot of rain in some areas in the jersey shore. and inland in new jersey could be even worse than that. as far as the wind field with that track, we have a good solid wind where we've got 60, 70, 80-mile-per-hour winds coming right across the new york city area. and that's

today at the white house, fema administrator craig fugate was asked what lessons his agency learned after dealing with katrina-devastated new orleans in 2005. >> we can't wait to know how bad it is before we get ready. we have to go fast, we have to base upon the potential impacts. if you wait until you know how bad it is, it becomes harder to change the outcome. >> it was six years ago today when hurricane katrina first slammed into new orleans. the storm and subsequent failure of the levies would claim the lives of more than 1,700 people and displace hundreds of thousands, 10,000 evacuees stayed at the superdome. today, a few blocks from the superdome, ed schultz gathered to help louisianeans without health insurance. joining me now, ed schultz, host of "the ed show" here on msnbc. ed, what was it like to be in new orleans today on this grim anniversary? >> well, you know, lawrence, new orleans has come a long way in the last six years, but every resident that came through the door today here at this health care clinic was quick to say we have a long way to go. this health care clinic,