>> now to the headquarters of fema, the federal emergency management agency and speak to the administrator, craig fugate . mr. 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 required.
>> so, because you do have people who may think, okay, tropical storm now, i can actually go back, as we look in the rearview mirror , north carolina and along the coast, other areas, they want to make an assessment. where on the map is it okay to do that and where should people not be leaving?
>> don't go back yet. let the local officials give you that all clear. part of it is roads that are blocked by debris, downed trees, but also power lines down. and if we want the power back on quick, stay off the roads and let the power crews get out there and get to work. they don't need you out there sight seeing . stay home, unless it's urgent, and don't go back until local officials tell you it's okay.
>> you know, mr. fugate , this picture we've got up right now, which is a live picture of times square in new york, which is remarkable, even by sunday morning standards. i can't see hardly anybody on the street. there was a vigilance on the part of local leaders up and down the coast who said you don't just want to have a plan, you don't want to just be prepared, you need to get out. you need to evacuate. in new york city , of course, that decision was made for mandatory evacuations in lower manhattan . what drove that level of vigilance? was it events like hurricane katrina , even the snowstorm up in new york earlier this year?
>> i think it's, as governor christie said, it's the preservation of life. you know, these are forecasts. they're not going to tell us 100% where we're going to have damag damages, but you have to make decisions at a point based on the forecast. if you don't, you may not get people out in time. it's a life safety that drives these decisions. obviously, if we could tell people you don't have to evacuate, we have enough confidence you won't be in danger, we do it, but this is the forecast. i think local officials took it to heart. they wanted to make sure people got to safety and had time, so they ordered the evacuations.
>> let me ask you about power , because as you said, that will be a big headline out of all this. what can people expect in the storm zone in terms of restoration of power ? what kind of time is it going to take for that to happen?
>> well, we were telling people before the storm expect days or longer. we won't really know until the power crews get out there, start seeing the types of damages. i think some people will get power back rather quickly, but other people, it's going to probably be days depending upon how much damage there is to poles, transformers and power lines .
>> i mentioned just a moment ago at the top of the program states of emergency declared. these are requests that are made of the federal government . explain what it means and what the federal government is now doing and in a position to do to help the states in the storm's path.
>> well, what these were, as governors were getting ready to prepare for the storms, they asked president obama to declare a federal emergency, provide assistance fundings for measures they are taking, calling out their national guard and lots of things they are doing, as well as directing federal assistance from federal teams in the military. but this can be expensive, so it offsets the cost with 75% funding from the government and state officials will match that. but we're also already getting damage assessments already from puerto rico . we have declared a disaster declaration for rebuilding efforts and are starting assessments in north carolina and we'll be working up the coast as conditions improve and the governors and their teams start going out and looking at the damages.
>> that damage assessment i know is just moving forward. what kind of costs are we talking about for this storm?
>> i wouldn't even hazard a guess. i've been doing this for a long time, and in these early stages, you just don't know until you get out there and start seeing what kind of damages you have, and then we'll have a better idea as we get those in.
>> is this a model for you? i know you've studied some of the past responses. where does this rank as a model of response? federal government coordinating with state governments and down the line?
>> yeah, each opportunity, as governor christie says, we try to get better and we work harder to build this team. you really try to take away this idea that we're dealing with local government and then we're dealing with state government and then we're dealing with federal government . we try to work as a team, bring in our volunteers and faith-based as part of that team and also work with the private sector. those are the big lessons after katrina, we all have to work as a team.
>> well, administrator fugate , thank you very much for your time. i know you're busy all morning long and we appreciate the time you're giving us.
>> thank you.
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