'This is going to be a big and powerful storm and all across the eastern seaboard I think everybody is taking the appropriate preparations,' the president said. 'We have prepositioned assets so that FEMA personnel are working closely with state and local governments. We're making sure that food and water and emergency generators are available for those communities that are going to be hardest hit.'
He then pleaded with Americans to heed their local officials' warnings: 'Please listen to what your state and local officials are saying. When they tell you to evacuate, you need to evacuate. Do not delay, do not pause, do not question the instructions that are being given because this is a serious storm and it could potentially have fatal consequences if people haven't acted quickly.'
Echoing similar warnings from east coast state governors, the president then mentioned what can go wrong if people refuse to evacuate: 'If you are not evacuating when you've been asked to evacuate, you're putting first-responders at danger. We'll have to have search-and-rescue teams in and around multiple states all at the same time. Although we've got Coast Guard and Department of Defense all positioned, if the public's not following instructions, that makes it more dangerous for people and it means that we could have fatalities that could have been avoided.'
Following his remarks, a reporter managed to ask the president whether he believes this storm will affect next week's election.
'I am not worried at this point about the impact on the election,' replied Obama. 'I'm worried about the impact on families and I'm worried about the impact on our first responders. I'm worried about the impact on our economy, and on transportation. The election will take care of itself next week. Right now our number one priority is to make sure that we are saving lives.'
Watch below, via CNN:
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