What the President saw: Shocked Obama flies over Atlantic City disaster zone to witness massive trail of devastation left by Sandy
- President takes one-hour helicopter tour over Atlantic Coast, viewing flooded homes and wrecked buildings
- Superstorm Sandy has claimed lives of at least 55 people on US East Coast with New Jersey and NYC badly affected
- Obama skips campaign events in battleground states in favour of visit to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's state
- Gov Christie: 'We've got a big task ahead of us that we have to do together. This is what New Jerseyans are built for'
- Obama to return to campaign trail on Thursday with trips to Green Bay, Wisconsin; Boulder, Colorado; and Las Vegas
PUBLISHED: 17:30, 31 October 2012 | UPDATED: 21:17, 31 October 2012
Abandoned homes surrounded in water, bridges torn in half - this is the view President Obama had today when he took a helicopter tour of a stretch of the New Jersey coast devastated by Superstorm Sandy.
The President revised his election campaigning plans and travelled to Atlantic City to see for himself the widespread damage caused by the storm.
He was joined on the presidential helicopter, Marine One, for the one-hour tour by Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who has put partisan politics aside in the wake of the disaster.
Scroll down for videos
Aerial view: The President saw how homes in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, have become surrounded by water after Superstorm Sandy lashed the Atlantic Coast
Ripped apart: During the helicopter tour, the President was shown how Superstorm Sandy tore away part of the Mantoloking Bridge in New Jersey
Up in the air: The Marine One helicopter, carrying President Obama and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, takes an aerial tour of the Atlantic Coast in New Jersey
Crossing the political divide: Barack Obama comforts the New Jersey's Republican Governor Chris Christie, a Mitt Romney supporter who has sung the President's praises since Superstorm Sandy struck
'I want to let you know that your governor is working overtime,' Obama told victims at an emergency shelter after the tour.
'The entire country has been watching what's been happening. Everybody knows how hard Jersey has been hit.'
Christie said: 'It's really important to have the president of the United States here.'
Obama returned the compliment.
The politicians' meeting came as people in the heavily populated US East Coast corridor battered by Sandy took the first cautious steps to reclaim their upended daily routines, even as rescuers combed neighbourhoods strewn with debris and scarred by floods and fire.
By Tuesday night, the winds and flooding inflicted by the fast-weakening Sandy had subsided, leaving at least 55 people dead along the Atlantic Coast and splintering beachfront homes and boardwalks from the mid-Atlantic states to southern New England.
The storm later moved across Pennsylvania on a predicted path toward western New York State and Canada.
At the height of the disaster, more than 8.2 million customers lost electricity - some as far away as Michigan. Nearly a quarter of those without power were in New York, where lower Manhattan's usually bright lights remained dark for a second night.
Christie, who is a vocal supporter of GOP nominee Mitt Romney, has changed his partisan tune after the storm, regularly singing Obama’s praises in relation to the federal aid given toward disaster relief support.
‘The president has been outstanding in this and so have the folks at FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency),’ Christie told the Today Show on Tuesday.
Christie later told news anchor Soledad O’Brien that Obama ‘has been incredibly supportive and helpful to our state, and not once did he bring up the election.’
New Jersey was one of the hardest-hit in Monday night’s storm, and power outages in the state’s two biggest cities - Newark and Jersey City - have prevented progress, as traffic lights remain out of action.
The visit came after the President’s second visit to FEMA headquarters for an update on federal progress.
Obama took a motorcade to FEMA's offices in D.C. to meet with agency chiefs before the flight to Atlantic City to meet with Sandy's victims and relief workers.
Days before the election, the President has kept up a steady public presence overseeing the storm response, while cancelling a series of public campaign rallies.
It was Obama's second visit in four days with the agency. On Sunday, he met FEMA officials, then told reporters the government will ‘respond big and respond fast’ after the massive storm made landfall.
The President also paid a visit to the headquarters of the Red Cross on Tuesday, saying he wanted ‘no bureaucracy, no red tape’ to interfere with recovery, and suggested the military might be able to help in view of the enormity of the damage.
‘This is a tough time for millions of people ... But America is tougher,’ he said.
The speed of their response has prompted criticism from Michael ‘heckuva job’ Brown, the former FEMA director who was roundly criticized for the agency’s response to the devastation from Hurricane Katrina.
‘One thing (President Obama’s) gonna be asked is, why did he jump on (Sandy) so quickly and go back to D.C. so quickly when (after) Benghazi, he went to Las Vegas? Why was this so quick?’ Brown told a Denver news station.
After tamping down his partisan tone on Tuesday at an Ohio event that emphasised victims' relief, Mr Romney planned three full-blown campaign rallies today in Florida, the largest competitive state.
Sandy largely spared Florida, so Mr Romney calculates he can campaign there without appearing callous. But President Obama’s revised schedule is also a political gamble.
Rather than use the campaign's final Wednesday to woo voters in the tossup states that will decide the election, Obama decided to go before cameras with Christie.
What Obama saw: This aerial photograph of storm damage in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, was taken from a helicopter travelling behind Marine One
Aftermath: Another view of the damage to Seaside Heights, New Jersey, taken from a helicopter travelling behind the aircraft carrying President Obama and Governor Chris Christie
Battered: The President was shown the damage to this amusement park at Seaside Heights, New Jersey, as he toured the area by helicopter
Tour: Barack Obama is greeted by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie as he arrives in Atlantic City to inspect damage caused by Superstorm Sandy
Joint effort: The President was joined by Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Craig Fugate (right) as he met the Republican New Jersey Governor (left), who has put party politics aside after the storm caused widespread damage
Visit: President Obama, flanked by Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Craig Fugate (right) and New Jersey governor Chris Christie (left) prepare to take an aerial tour of the Atlantic Coast to view areas damaged by Superstorm Sandy
Political gamble: Rather than using the election campaign's final Wednesday to woo voters in swing states, the President flew to New Jersey to see the devastation
On his way: The shadow of Air Force One is seen as it approaches Atlantic City International Airport before the President's helicopter tour of the devastated region
When Governor Christie stopped in Belmar, New Jersey, during a tour of the devastation, one woman wept openly and 42-year-old Walter Patrickis told him: ‘Governor, I lost everything.'
Governor Christie, who called the shore damage ‘unthinkable,’ said a full recovery would take months and it would likely be a week or more before power is restored to everyone who lost it.
'This is a tough time for millions of people. But America is tougher'
US President Barack Obama
‘Now we've got a big task ahead of us that we have to do together. This is the kind of thing New Jerseyans are built for,’ he added.
Governor Christie said that when he speaks with President Obama today, he plans to ask the President to assign the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to start working on how to rebuild beaches and find ‘the best way to rebuild the beach to protect these towns’.
President Obama cancelled his campaign appearances up to today but is staying in the public eye as commander of federal relief efforts. Yesterday he visited the American Red Cross headquarters - a short walk from the White House to commiserate with victims and encourage aid workers.
‘This is a tough time for millions of people,’ the President said. ‘But America is tougher.’
Obama campaign senior adviser David Axelrod said today that the President intends to resume campaigning tomorrow. Campaign officials say the President will make stops in Green Bay, Wisconsin; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Boulder, Colorado.
President Obama’s last campaign event was last Saturday in New Hampshire. He flew to Orlando on Sunday to attend a campaign rally on Monday with former President Bill Clinton but scrapped his campaign plans to return to Washington D.C. to monitor preparations for Superstorm Sandy.
Destroyed: An aerial view of the Breezy Point neighbourhood in New York, where more than 50 homes were burned to the ground as a result of Superstorm Sandy
Burned down: Residents living in the beachfront neighbourhood at Breezy Point, New York, were told to evacuate as Superstorm Sandy approached. When they returned, dozens of homes were gone
Fire damage: Neighbors Lucille Dwyer (right) and Linda Strong (left) embrace after looking through the wreckage of their homes in Breezy Point, Queens, New York
Distraught: A woman stares at the ground as she walks past damaged homes after the fire at Breezy Point in the Queens borough of New York
Surveying the destruction: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (centre) views storm damage in the Breezy Point area of Queens, New York, after fire destroyed homes
No play: This US Air Force photo shows an aerial view of the rollercoaster from the Seaside Heights amusement park on the New Jersey shore submerged in surf
Pet rescue: Olivia Loesner, 16, hugs her uncle, Deputy Fire Chief John Ruff, after she was brought from her flooded home in a boat in Little Ferry, New Jersey, Her mother, Janice Loesner, carries their dogs to safety in a basket
Stuck: A car is pictured on Wednesday, partially buried by sand that was washed ashore by Superstorm Sandy in Atlantic City, New Jersey
All that's left: The foundations to the historic Rockaway boardwalk are all that remain after it was washed away during Superstorm Sandy in Brooklyn, New York
Snap: A man takes a picture of a woman in front of a crumbled public bathroom following Superstorm Sandy, on Tuesday in Belmar, New Jersey
Unbelievable: A woman looks at damage in the Rockaway neighborhood where the historic boardwalk was washed away during Superstorm Sandy
Crushed: Freddie Nocella, Jr, looks at his grandfather's damaged Trans Am as he helps to salvage belongings from his grandparents' heavily damaged home in Babylon Village, New York
Scenes from New Jersey: A man carries his wife through the floodwaters in Hoboken (left), and cars and vans are buried in sand on Long Beach Island (right)
Mr Romney wavered in his strategy. First the campaign said he would skip a rally in Ohio yesterday out of sympathy for the storm victims. Then Mr Romney decided to do the event but recast it as a storm-relief effort, shorn of the usual campaign speech.
‘It's part of the American spirit, the American way, to give to people in need,’ Mr Romney said in Kettering, Ohio, before supporters lined up to hand him bags of canned food for storm victims.
Adding to Mr Romney's dilemma are the candidate's previous statements on the federal government's role in emergency management.
He said he believes state and local governments should have primary responsibility for emergency clean-up. Mr Romney refused yesterday to answer repeated questions from reporters about what he would do with the Federal Emergency Management Agency if he wins the election.
'A Romney-Ryan administration will always ensure that disaster funding is there for those in need. Period'
Spokesman for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney
Asked about federal aid to help recover and rebuild from Sandy, a spokesman said: ‘A Romney-Ryan administration will always ensure that disaster funding is there for those in need. Period.’
For President Obama, missing a few days of active campaigning for vital presidential duties may be a good trade, politically speaking.
Lingering anger about President George W. Bush's performance when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005 could provide a backdrop to benefit President Obama if he does a solid job.
Kathleen Hall Jamieson, of the University of Pennsylvania, said a natural disaster gives a president ‘unlimited access to the media to say things the public wants and needs to hear in a fashion that reinforces that he is president.’
For President Obama, the federal response to the natural disaster could make or break his bid for a second term. His reputation could suffer if the federal government's response is feeble or botched.
Unusual pile-up: An aerial photograph shows boats lying next to a house near Monmouth Beach, New Jersey, where they were washed ashore during Superstorm Sandy
On fire: This photo from the New Jersey Governor's Office shows damage north of Seaside, New Jersey, on Tuesday after Superstorm Sandy made landfall
Severe damage: This picture provided by the US Coast Guard shows property damages along the New Jersey coast caused by Hurricane Sandy on Tuesday
Underwater: This picture provided shows flooded homes in Tuckerton, New Jersey, after Superstorm Sandy made landfall on the southern New Jersey coastline
Flooding: A portion of Harvey Cedars on Long Beach Island, New Jersey was underwater after Superstorm Sandy blew across the state with devastating results
BEFORE AND AFTER: THE DEVASTATING IMPACT OF SUPERSTORM SANDY ON ATLANTIC CITY'S HOLIDAY HOMES
These startling before-and-after pictures reveal what is left of parts of the East Coast. Just one solitary house was left standing on the east side of New Jersey's Mantoloking Bridge in Brick. Rows of Atlantic holiday homes were wiped out by the 900-mile storm with its surging waters and winds of 95mph.
How it was: This image from Google Maps shows Mantoloking Bridge in Brick, New Jersey, before the devastation was caused by Superstorm Sandy. All but one of the houses in the highlighted area above were destroyed in the storm. The only one to still be standing is circled above
Severe destruction: An aerial view from Greenpeace taken by Tim Aubry of the damage caused by Superstorm Sandy along the New Jersey coast in Brick
Shock: Brian Hajeski, 41, of Brick, New Jersey, reacts as he looks at debris of a home that washed up on to the Mantoloking Bridge the morning after Superstorm Sandy
Contenders: US President Barack Obama (left) talks about damage done by Hurricane Sandy and rescue efforts while at the National Red Cross HQ in Washington D.C. on Tuesday; while Republican candidate Mitt Romney loads relief supplies for people affected by Hurricane Sandy into a truck at a relief campaign event in Kettering, Ohio
Speech: President Obama talks during his visit to the Disaster Operation Center of the Red Cross National HQ to discuss Superstorm Sandy on Tuesday
Talks: President Barack Obama visits the FEMA headquarters following Hurricane Sandy in Washington D.C. on Wednesday. Pictured with President Obama are (from second left to right) Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan
From above: In this National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration image, the remnants of Tropical Sandy move across eastern America on Wednesday
Gone: A boardwalk (left) and waterfront property are heavily damaged following Superstorm Sandy, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Wednesday
Uprooted: This picture provided by the US Coast Guard shows property damage along the New Jersey coast caused by Hurricane Sandy on Tuesday
Changed landscape This photo from the New Jersey Governor's Office shows flooding on the bay side of Seaside, New Jersey, on Tuesday after Sandy made landfall
Just still there: The damage caused by Hurricane Sandy to the New Jersey coast, in a photo taken during a search and rescue mission
Extraordinary: Sand and debris covers the streets near the water in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Tuesday, after the area was wrecked by Superstorm Sandy
Complete devastation: A lone piece of colour in a children's playground is pictured surrounded by sand and debris near the ocean in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Tuesday
Rubble: A toy truck sits among the post-Superstorm Sandy destruction on Tuesday in the devastated Atlantic City in New Jersey
Rebuild project: A man in a hooded jacket and jeans walks past debris left by the floodwater from Superstorm Sandy on Tuesday in Hoboken, New Jersey
No sales: A small shop that rents personal water craft rests in a huge sinkhole on the bayside in Ocean City, New Jersey, on Tuesday, after a storm surge
On the rails: This photograph, provided by the state of New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, shows a boat resting on the tracks at Metro-North's Ossining Station in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy
Smashed: Captain Charles Bodien, Jr, posts a condemned sign on a summer camp at Webster Lake in Franklin, New Hampshire, after a tree crashed down on it
Destitute: In this U.S. Coast Guard photo, a helicopter crew from Air Station Cape Cod, Massachusetts, observe property damage in New Jersey caused by Sandy
Misery on the beachfront: This aerial photograph provided by the U.S. Air Force shows how the storm left homes on the New Jersey shoreline surrounded by water
What to do? Zelphia Connor stands outside her garage in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Wednesday, damaged by pieces of the boardwalk that Superstorm Sandy broke
Still moving: A vehicle drives on a flooded street in Little Ferry, New Jersey, on Tuesday, after Superstorm Sandy made landfall on Monday evening
Sea crash: Boats clustered together at a marina in Brant Beach, on Long Beach Island on the New Jersey shore on Tuesday, a day after Superstorm Sandy blew across
Devastation: A beachfront home is gutted in Manasquan, New Jersey, following the dramatic storm which caused havoc across the US East Coast
No Halloween: This photo taken on Tuesday shows a store with 'Boo Sandy' and 'Trick or Treat?' writing on wooden boards in Atlantic City, New Jersey
Wreckage: The remains of a boardwalk and other debris is washed ashore following Superstorm Sandy, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Monday
Aid: Bill Johnson is helped by a friend to remove one of his kayaks from a pile of debris in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Tuesday
Ruined: People walk past debris in the area where a 2,000ft section of the boardwalk was destroyed, with the Showboat Casino in the background in Atlantic City
Shock: People stand on a mound of construction dirt to view the area where a 2,000ft section of the boardwalk was destroyed by flooding in Atlantic City, New Jersey
Smashed up: The damaged front of an auto repair shop on Atlantic Avenue is seen in the aftermath of Sandy's landfall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Tuesday
Collapse: Beach houses are left destroyed in the Bell Harbor community after Sandy inundated the Rockaway Peninsular in the borough of Queens, New York
Response: Firefighters try to put out blazes at Breezy Point on Tuesday in Queens, New York. A fire broke out in the flooded community late on Monday night
Pointing: Two men look at damage in the Breezy Point area of Queens, New York, on Tuesday after fire destroyed about 80 homes as a result of Superstorm Sandy
Taking cover: The scene at 130th St and Newport Ave in Rockaway, Queens, New York, where many houses were burned down after Superstorm Sandy hit the area
Destruction: A beach house is left destroyed in the Bell Harbor community after Superstorm Sandy inundated the Rockaway Peninsular in Queens, New York
Little left: Beachfront properties in Rockaway, Queens, New York, where many houses were destroyed after Superstorm Sandy hit the area
Throught the wreckage: After Superstorm Sandy hit New York, extensive damage and flooding was apparent throughout the city. Breezy Point in Queens is pictured
Not moving: Lucy the Elephant is still standing, seemingly unscathed on Tuesday after Superstorm Sandy blew across the area along New Jersey shore
While President Obama and Mr Romney moved cautiously yesterday, their campaigns exchanged sharp words in Ohio and expanded their operations into three Democratic-leaning states.
Mr Romney's campaign is running ads in Minnesota and Pennsylvania, and a pro-Romney group is doing the same in Michigan.
The three states were considered fairly safe for President Obama, but his campaign is taking the threat seriously. It sent former President Bill Clinton to Minnesota yesterday and it is buying airtime in all three states.
Support: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is a prominent supporter of Mr Romney and a frequent critic of the President
The Republican efforts could indicate that Mr Romney is desperately searching for a last-minute path to victory without all-important Ohio, where polls show President Obama has a slight edge.
Or it could mean just the opposite, that Mr Romney's so confident in the most competitive battlegrounds that he's pressing for insurance against President Obama in what's expected to be a close race. Or perhaps the Republican simply has money to burn. Use it now or never.
The U.S. president is chosen not by the nationwide popular vote but in state-by-state contests.
That has made a handful of states whose voters are neither reliably Republican nor Democratic the focus of the November 6 election, expected to be one of the closest in U.S. history.
Ohio and Florida are prominent among those, and no Republican has been elected president without winning Ohio.
In a sign that Ohio looms large for the Romney campaign: a guest-filled rally in suburban Cincinnati is planned for Friday to kick off the campaign's final four days.
Set to join Mr Romney and running mate Paul Ryan are golf legend Jack Nicklaus, ex-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Texas Governor Rick Perry and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Vice President Joe Biden planned to campaign today in Florida. Mr Ryan was scheduled to campaign in his home state, Wisconsin.
Meanwhile, Democratic groups bitterly complained about a TV ad the Romney camp is running in the Toledo and Youngstown areas of Ohio. The ad suggests that Jeep will move its Toledo car-making facility to China, a claim Jeep executives deny.
Democrats called the ad a brazen lie and a sign of desperation. Even some Republicans worried that Mr Romney has gone too far in a state where voters follow the auto industry closely.
‘It's the kind of thing that happens late in the campaign, when everybody's tired and you're not quite yourself,’ said GOP pollster and strategist Mike McKenna, who does not work for the Romney campaign.
‘It didn't help. But I don't think it's a big thing. At this point, everybody has made up their mind.’
ONE YEAR AGO: OBAMA AND CHRISTIE PICTURED TOURING DAMAGE CAUSED BY HURRICANE IRENE IN NEW JERSEY
All smiles: Political rivals Chris Christie (left) and Barack Obama (right) were pictured together last September after Hurricane Irene hit New Jersey
Barack Obama and Chris Christie were memorably pictured together one year ago when the President toured damage caused by Hurricane Irene.
They looked like best friends, sharing a warm embrace and laughing in New Jersey - with the meeting coming at a time when Governor Christie was under pressure to run for the Republican presidential nomination.
Governor Christie won major plaudits for his authoritative command of preparations and the following clean-up after Irene, which hit last August.
He made what became a famous quote, after his frustration came through after seeing people surfing on the beach in TV interviews.
'Get the hell off the beach,' he told surfers in a press conference that was replayed on news programmes around the US.
Governor Christie announced last October that he would not run for president against Mitt Romney, after weeks of speculation that he might reverse his long-held stance of staying out of the 2012 race.
'This is not the time to leave unfinished business,' Governor Christie said at the time. 'New Jersey - whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me'.
Surveying the damage: Governor Christie (left) won major plaudits for his authoritative command of preparations and the following clean-up in New Jersey after Irene
VIDEO: Obama flies to disaster zone
VIDEO: Obama says Sandy's wrath is not yet over
VIDEO: Mitt Romney campaigns in Florida and urges the country to come together
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2225865/Superstorm-Sandy-devastation-seen-Obama-flies-visit-New-Jersey-victims.html#ixzz2Auk7cR42
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
