Meet the Press’ coverage of Hurricane Irene this week included interviews with governors and mayors from the areas affected, as well as an update from the head of FEMA.
The Washington Post covered David Gregory’s interviews with Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley. The Post reported that O’Malley “went out of his way to praise the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” and that McDonnell “said a lesson had been learned from a previous hurricane, Isabel, in 2003.”
Gov. O'Malley says, "This is a much better FEMA than the olden days."
Reuters reported on FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate’s assessment of Hurricane Irene’s damage on MTP. The article said that Fugate “declined to estimate the dollar value of damage from Irene but said cash-strapped states that receive a federal disaster declaration will receive U.S. assistance to defray the cost of storm preparations.”
FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate explains why emergency and disaster declarations are useful to states.
Politico wrote that Newark Mayor Cory Booker expressed his worries about the country’s readiness on MTP: “Newark Mayor Cory Booker said Sunday that the nation's rapidly aging infrastructure is not prepared to handle large-scale natural disasters like Hurricane Irene.” It also noted that Booker was “bipartisan in his praise” of the response to Irene, as he told David Gregory, “I'm proud of my president, and I'm proud of my governor for both jumping in and being very very precautious by calling a state of emergency."
Meet the Press’ interview with Chris Christie made news, as the New Jersey governor reflected on the cost of the Hurricane’s destruction. As Reuters reports, Christie said "I've got to imagine that the damage estimates are going to be in the billions of dollars, if not the tens of billions of dollars." Another Reuters story on the overall damage of the storm also mentioned the Christie estimate.
The Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin picked up on another Christie quote from MTP, noting that the Governor told David Gregory, “The key is that we’ve tried to keep people fully informed, be fully transparent, to lower fear and raise confidence. And that’s what we’re trying to do, and I think that’s the best thing a governor can do in this circumstance.”
Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) thinks the state has done a good job coordinating with the federal government so far. He also says that damage estimates might not be complete until inland flooding subsides.
