{"id":67062,"date":"2018-09-19T22:26:28","date_gmt":"2018-09-20T05:26:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=67062"},"modified":"2018-09-19T22:26:28","modified_gmt":"2018-09-20T05:26:28","slug":"president-trump-at-cherry-point-nc-briefing-on-hurricane-florence-recovery-efforts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=67062","title":{"rendered":"President Trump at Cherry Point, NC Briefing on Hurricane Florence Recovery Efforts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Cherry Point, NC&#8230;Well, thank you very much everybody. We appreciate it very \u2014 the job you\u2019ve done has been incredible. Incredible. They\u2019re talking about it all over the world. And we want to keep it going that way, because some of the hard work is now. We\u2019ve gone through very dangerous work, and still dangerous, but some of the hard work is taking place right now, even though it\u2019s nice and beautiful and sunny.  I was talking to the Governor. And, Governor, I want to thank you. A really fantastic \u2014 a fantastic job. But in speaking to the Governor, some of the flooding is actually epic. Hard to believe. And we\u2019ve seen all the pictures where houses are literally covered beyond the roof. You don\u2019t even know there\u2019s a house there. And, you know, one of those things. Well, the water is starting to go down now, finally.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5fX5y8RZeZE\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>But again, I want to thank Governor Cooper. I want to express my gratitude to your Lieutenant Governor, Dan Forest, very importantly. And to all of the state and local leaders who have been really incredible partners throughout this response and recovery.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s been a lot of talent. A lot of work and a lot of talent. Without the talent, it doesn\u2019t work either. You had a combination of hard work and that great ability.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re joined also by Secretary Nielsen, Administrator McMahon, Director Mulvaney, and FEMA Administrator Long. I want to thank you all. Administrator, great job. Incredible job. The planning that went into this is beyond \u2014 beyond belief. So I just want to thank the Secretary and Administrator. Really \u2014 really something special.<\/p>\n<p>I also want to thank some great friends of mine and some very talented people that love this state. They love all our states, I think we can say, and that\u2019s Senator Richard Burr. Where\u2019s Richard? Richard? Thank you very much. You have great representatives. Senator Thom Tillis, thank you. Thank you. Where\u2019s Thom? Thank you, Thom. Lindsey Graham. Lindsey? What happened? Lindsey. (Laughter.) Oh, look at Lindsey.<\/p>\n<p>Lindsey, do you want to pull up a chair? What happened to you? (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>SENATOR GRAHAM: (Inaudible.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: You know, we could have \u2014 (laughter) \u2014 Richard, would you let him sit at our table? I don\u2019t know. Come on. Pull up a chair, Lindsey. But Lindsey has been great.<\/p>\n<p>And Tim Scott. Where\u2019s Tim? Good. I don\u2019t know, I feel pretty guilty. Come over here.<\/p>\n<p>They have been fantastic, all of them \u2014 all four. And we\u2019ve had a lot help from Congress, in all fairness. And we\u2019re ready and they\u2019re ready to do whatever we have to do to make this perfect. And that means, unfortunately, the money will be a lot, but it\u2019s going to come as fast as you need it. We\u2019re going to take care of everybody.<\/p>\n<p>Hurricane Florence was one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the Carolinas. One of the most powerful and devastating storms ever to hit our country.<\/p>\n<p>To the families who have lost loved ones, America grieves with you, and our hearts break for you. God bless you. We will never forget your loss. We will never leave your side. We\u2019re with you all way. And to all those impacted by this terrible storm, our entire American family is with you and ready to help. And you will recover.<\/p>\n<p>Most importantly, we give thanks to the incredible first responders, including sheriffs, police officers, firefighters, our great Cajun Navy. They\u2019re all over the place. I put them up online and everybody loved it. Everybody loved it. But they put themselves, all of them, in harm\u2019s way. And what they\u2019ve done to save precious lives of our citizens has been nothing short of incredible.<\/p>\n<p>Nearly 20,000 federal and military personnel are supporting the response efforts along with Southeast Coast, including brave men and women of North Carolina and the National Guard. Now, of course, we\u2019re going to South Carolina right after this, and they have been incredible. And I know you\u2019ve worked and coordinated very well also, Governor, with South Carolina. That\u2019s been a really great partnership.<\/p>\n<p>Together with state and local first responders, they\u2019ve assisted and rescued more than 3,000 people. So we want to thank you. And I will say, I\u2019ve been watching the Coast Guard with all of the helicopters lifting people off rooftops, and it\u2019s been an incredible job you\u2019ve done again. We appreciate it. Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>More than 1.6 million meals have been delivered to North Carolina, and more than 400,000 are ready in South Carolina as soon as they\u2019re requested. So we\u2019re standing by with 400,000 meals in South Carolina.<\/p>\n<p>Crews have restored power to over 1.2 million customers already in North and South Carolina. And the power is starting to go on as soon as the water goes down. They\u2019re meeting the demand incredibly well. So I want to thank the power companies and all of the federal workers, but we have to also thank some of the power companies because they\u2019ve been very responsive. As soon as that water goes down, for the most part, people have power.<\/p>\n<p>In moments of despair, we witness the true character of the American people. So true. Citizens all across our country rally together to rescue the stranded, to protect the innocent, and to restore hope to families who have experienced tremendous and unbearable loss.<br \/>\nI want to thank all of the people here today. A very special group of people. Very talented group of people. And we love working with you. It\u2019s an honor to work with you. We\u2019ve done a real job, and we\u2019ve got to continue to do that real job because another phase is coming in right now, and we\u2019re going to meet that phase just like we\u2019ve met phase one.<\/p>\n<p>So, Governor, again, thank you very much. I appreciate it. And to everybody, thank you very much. And whatever we have to do at the federal level, we will be there \u2014 and you know that \u2014 100 percent.<\/p>\n<p>And, Secretary Nielsen? Please.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY NIELSEN: Yes, sir. Well, first I just wanted to start by thanking you for your leadership. I think we would all agree, we appreciate (inaudible) to respond, to direct all of our federal governments, to support our partners.<\/p>\n<p>And what you see there is how that partnership works so well. We\u2019ve got the private sector, we\u2019ve got our congressional members, state and local officials. We certainly have all of our partners at DOD and the National Guard. So we are all working together as it should be, in unity of effort, under your leadership. And we greatly appreciate everyone\u2019s partnership.<\/p>\n<p>If I could, I\u2019d like to ask the Administrator to give us a brief update as to where we are.<\/p>\n<p>ADMINISTRATOR LONG: So, Mr. President, as you know, a disaster response like this takes all of us working together, not just coordinating the federal government together, which has come together very well so far. But it takes all of us from neighbor helping neighbor, all the way up to the federal government, to help people overcome what they\u2019ve been through.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve been on the ground yesterday. I\u2019ll be on the ground through tomorrow to make sure that I verify that we\u2019re doing everything that we can right now. This event is not over; the rivers are still cresting. And so we still have a lot of work to do when it comes to the life, safety, and life sustainment mission.<br \/>\nBut we\u2019re also simultaneously working on making sure that we stabilize all of the critical lifelines in regards to the infrastructure. So it\u2019s all interconnected. We got to get the roads open to be able to get the power crews into the isolated areas and the flooded areas. And we also have to put a big focus on the hazardous materials, and the health and medical capabilities, and getting them back up and running fully in every community.<\/p>\n<p>One of the things that\u2019s most important is that we\u2019re already pushing forward our disaster survival assistance teams into the fields, into the shelters. We need people to register with 1-800-621-FEMA, or they can download the FEMA app, or they can go through DisasterAssistance.gov.<\/p>\n<p>But more importantly, my job is made easier when a governor like Governor Cooper, Mike Sprayberry, Erik Hooks, have truly done their part to be self-sufficient at the state level. They have been very strong and capable partners. So, thank you.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you, Sir.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY NIELSEN: And perhaps we turn it over to the Governor. Governor, as you said so well yesterday, \u201cSunshine doesn\u2019t need safety.\u201d So we\u2019re right here with you in the midst of a very (inaudible) response.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR COOPER: Well, thank you, Mr. President, for coming to North Carolina as our rescue and recovery continues.<\/p>\n<p>Our rivers are still cresting, and there is still danger for some people. We\u2019re hoping that they can get evacuated and that out first responders continue to make sure that people are brought to safety.<\/p>\n<p>Our state took a gut punch, Mr. President. And our people are still reeling. We\u2019ve lost 27 lives, officially, so far. And some more are under investigation. And we mourn their loss.<\/p>\n<p>We have farmers who have lost significantly their crops. A lot of businesses are down. And, of course, people have lost their homes. We have about 10,000 people right now in shelters. I talked to one the other day who had a rescue out of an apartment in downtown Wilmington. And I will say this: All the way from firefighters in Wilmington, to our state responders, our National Guard, and the United States Coast Guard, there have been some heroic first responders who have saved lives.<\/p>\n<p>We are beginning the process of getting our feet under us, Mr. President. We\u2019re getting water and supplies, hot meals to people. We\u2019re beginning to clear roads, although we have a number of roads continuing to be closed, including parts of Interstate 95 and Interstate 40. And you can imagine what that does to commerce and people trying to get from one place to the next.<\/p>\n<p>We have a lot of power that has been restored, but there are thousands of people who are still waiting to get their power back.<\/p>\n<p>I know that this state has a great economy, great education. We are a beacon in the south. And we have weathered storms before in our state. But, Mr. President, we have never seen one like this. This one has been epic, it has been disastrous, and it has been widespread. It is a storm like no other.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re beginning the process, with your federal help and with our local county people; many of them are here today. And we want to thank our local responders and all of the help that they have given to deal with people right there on the ground. But we\u2019re starting to figure out how we will build back. We will do it in a smart and strong way. I\u2019ve been grateful for Secretary Nielsen and for Admiral Buschman. Thank you for your help with the Coast Guard and helping to rescue people.<\/p>\n<p>And, Mr. President, Brock Long, as FEMA Administrator, along with Albie Lewis, who has been here, they are helping us right now significantly. And we\u2019re grateful.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve got a great Emergency Management Director in Mike Sprayberry and my Secretary of Public Safety, Erik Hooks. They\u2019re all onboard. Our Adjutant General of the National Guard, General Lusk, has been doing a fantastic job.<\/p>\n<p>And this Title 10 that we\u2019ve invoked with our joint military exercise, we are grateful to the members of the U.S. military who have stepped up and helped us through this process.<\/p>\n<p>But, Mr. President, we\u2019ve got a long road ahead in the days and the months, and even years ahead, to make sure we build back to where we need to be here in North Carolina. And you\u2019re here, and I\u2019m asking you, sir, for your help, every step of the way. All of these federal agencies are going to have to help us in cutting red tape and making sure we can be smart about this rebuilding process.<\/p>\n<p>We still understand that people have a lot of immediate needs, and that\u2019s going to be critically important over the next few days and weeks. But long-term rebuild, I know the resiliency of North Carolinians. We have an amazing state. I know that we can come back stronger than ever. But we\u2019re going to need your help.<\/p>\n<p>And thank you for coming to listen to this.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: And I\u2019ll be there. Congressman, thank you. Thank you, Roy. We will be there 100 percent. And all of the folks from the federal government that are around the table, they\u2019re confirming it. That\u2019s why we started early and we\u2019ll be here late.<\/p>\n<p>And we want to thank the great job you\u2019ve done and all of your people. Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d like to maybe ask Richard Burr to say a few words, your great senator who\u2019s done an incredible job. And then we\u2019re going to ask Thom Tillis to say a few words. These are two people that love this state and they love the country.<\/p>\n<p>Richard?<\/p>\n<p>SENATOR BURR: Well, Mr. President, I\u2019m going to say to this group exactly what I said to you on the plane. I\u2019ve been doing disasters in North Carolina as an elected representative for now 25 years. I\u2019ve never seen the preparation, the coordination, the collaboration between the federal, state, and local government like I\u2019ve seen prior to this event.<\/p>\n<p>If we do half as good in the response as we did in the preparation, then North Carolinians are going to be in good hands.<\/p>\n<p>The challenge is, quite frankly, going to be this: We\u2019re faced with things in this event that we haven\u2019t been faced with before. And the ability to have the Coast Guard and DOD assets in this state, upfront, before the event, has enabled those at a local, state, and federal level to adjust what plans we might have had in place, and deliver water and food and essentials in a way that we could get into any community in this state. Without that level of collaboration, we\u2019d have people that were in serious, serious problems much worse than today.<\/p>\n<p>And I am grateful for the federal component but I am as grateful, Governor, for the way the state emergency management folks and first responders, who in some cases have been volunteers in local communities that had a boat, aided their neighbors. And that\u2019s what\u2019s so great about this state.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Richard, very much. And Tom?<\/p>\n<p>SENATOR TILLIS: Well, just very briefly, just to echo everything that Senator Burr said, we\u2019re now moving towards the next step, which is getting the initial funding for recovery. We\u2019ve made a request. We\u2019ll be moving forward with trying to get the money in place for some of the initial recovery. But then we\u2019ll work very closely with the Governor.<\/p>\n<p>Governor, thank you for being so prompt on getting the initial need in. That was very instructive to the appropriation request. We\u2019ll continue to work with state and local authorities.<\/p>\n<p>And just thank all the volunteers, as well \u2014 the Red Cross and everybody else who have come together. And Congressman Rouzer, every one of the counties in his district were affected. He\u2019s been working hard. He\u2019s been on the ground the entire time. And this is when North Carolina and America is at its best. We\u2019re all coming together and working for the people in North Carolina and South Carolina.<\/p>\n<p>And, President, thank you for your leadership.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Thank you, Thom. Thank you. And for you leadership.<\/p>\n<p>As Thom and Richard said, we\u2019re getting all teed up for a lot of money to come down to the area. You\u2019re going to need it. And we have it, and we will be supplying it. And there will be nothing left undone. You\u2019ll have everything you need.<\/p>\n<p>So we\u2019re going to have \u2014 it\u2019s going to be probably a rough two weeks, and then it will get a little bit softer. But it\u2019s going to be \u2014 people don\u2019t realize how a very difficult phase is beginning probably today with a beautiful sunshine. So your two representatives and your \u2014 by the way, your congressman, are working very hard. So we\u2019ll have it all taken care of. Thank you very much, Congressman. Thank you very much. Appreciate it very much. Great job.<\/p>\n<p>Does anybody have anything to say? Any of our folks?<\/p>\n<p>Administrator McMahon, would you say something please?<\/p>\n<p>ADMINISTRATOR MCMAHON: Thank you very much, Mr. President. First of all, I\u2019m a North Carolina girl. I was born and reared in New Bern. Both my parents were civil service employees right here at Cherry Point Air Base. So I feel like I\u2019ve come home.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m the Administrator of SBA, and I just want to let all of you know that where SBA comes in is on the front side, but we are immediately right there. As a matter of fact, we\u2019re already staged at East Carolina to deploy our folks into the field to get people\u2019s businesses back up and running, to get them back in their homes. This is the time that SBA actually makes the loans and not just guarantees the loans.<\/p>\n<p>So please go to SBA.gov and click on the \u201cDisaster\u201d banner. It will take you to the right place. We\u2019ve already approved, I think, just a little \u2014 fewer than 10 applications already for mortgages and loans for businesses. So they\u2019re low interest, they\u2019re long-term fixed rates. So please allow us to help you. Go online and start getting your applications in so that we can help our communities and our homeowners and even renters who have lost personal property in the storm get back on their feet.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you, sir.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Linda, very much. Anybody? Any questions? Statements? Congressman?<\/p>\n<p>REPRESENTATIVE ROUZER: First of all, let me thank you for being here. You have a great heart for the American people. That\u2019s one of the things I like so much about you. And it just really means a lot for you to be here at this particular time.<\/p>\n<p>We have a lot of folks that are really, really hurting. And I got a couple of points I want to make, but before I forget, though, I want to thank Brock Long and his team. I\u2019ve been with him for the past several days. They\u2019re doing incredible work. Everybody around this table is just doing a lot of collaborative, great work together.<\/p>\n<p>Your Admiral here at Coast Guard \u2014 I walked in the airport, RDU Airport, the other day, and saw doctors and nurses that were stranded, trying to find a way back to New Hanover Regional Medical Center. And this guy here helped us get it cleared to get them on that C-130 and take them to ILM Airport.<\/p>\n<p>And I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever seen a CEO of a hospital that was happier than our CEO at Hanover Regional the other day.<\/p>\n<p>So your team is doing an incredible, incredible job. A few things I want to mention: Housing is so critically important, as you know. Infrastructure, incredibly important. I serve on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, as you know. Really looking forward to working with you as we move forward on rebuilding our infrastructure, not just here post-storm, but we\u2019ve got to do a lot of pre-mitigation work for the next storm.<\/p>\n<p>You know, these storms aren\u2019t going to end. They\u2019re going to keep coming. And the more we can prepare, the more we can clean out these rivers, these ditches, all the creeks and streams, they\u2019re all \u2014 they\u2019re all stopped up. That\u2019s part of the reason why we have such a monumental flood. My district, as Senator Tillis said, eight of my nine counties are completely \u2014 almost completely underwater. They\u2019re all major disaster areas. And so I think rebuilding this infrastructure is going to be critically, critically important.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, housing is number one. Agriculture in my district \u2014 huge component of this state \u2014 $87 billion industry. I see Steve Troxler here in the audience \u2014 our Commissioner of Agriculture. We\u2019ve got to have more than just a new farm bill. We\u2019ve got to have a real disaster package for agriculture as well.<\/p>\n<p>And then our beach communities: Our beaches, our inlets and our waterways are a key component of infrastructure in this country. It\u2019s vital to tourism in my district, as you know. And of course, I know you\u2019re quite familiar with Wrightsville Beach in Wilmington and that area, and Brunswick County, Pender County. All these counties need a tremendous amount of help. And I just thank you and appreciate you being here and appreciate all the work of your entire team \u2014 not only now, but as we move into the future.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Appreciate it very much, Congressman.<\/p>\n<p>COMMISSIONER WHITE: Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Yes, please.<\/p>\n<p>COMMISSIONER WHITE: My name is Woody White, and I represent 220,000 citizens of New Hanover County. I want to thank you for coming here. I\u2019d like to echo the comments that were very ably made by David and the others around the table about what\u2019s been done. And I also want to share with you the hope and optimism that our people have about the economy that you\u2019ve created, about the people that you put back to work. Because all these next two or three or four phases of recovery are better because of the preparations, the economy that you have created, and we appreciate it.<\/p>\n<p>I have been out in our community since this storm before it began, in it every day since it was here. And folks are cutting trees, putting power lines up, feeding their neighbors, loving each other, caring for each other, and they have incredible hope and optimism in the future.<\/p>\n<p>It tells me something that you brought the Administrator of the Small Business Association here today, that you\u2019re thinking about the future too. I own a small business, and they\u2019re the lifeblood of our economy in New Hanover County. And we thank you for being here and for your leadership.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: That\u2019s really nice. I appreciate it very much. The economy is, fortunately, doing really well, and I would say maybe the best economy our country has ever had. So that\u2019s important.<\/p>\n<p>And we want to get everybody back to work so they can, you know, take (inaudible) \u2014 because this area has been very badly damaged. But we\u2019ll get it up and working again, Governor, very quickly. I have no doubt about it.<\/p>\n<p>Anybody else? Anybody? Yes.<\/p>\n<p>MAYOR JONES JR.: Mr. President, hi, I\u2019m Jerry Jones, the Mayor of Morehead City.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Hi, Jerry.<\/p>\n<p>MAYOR JONES JR.: And just on behalf of a grateful community \u2014 and not just talking about Morehead, but talking about coastal North Carolina \u2014 your presence here today means a whole lot to all of us. It means, you know, we\u2019re not left stranded alone on this island. It means the federal government is here helping us, along with the state government and many local governments.<\/p>\n<p>And being a mayor of a small town and having to \u2014 being the boots on the ground and walking the food lines with my constituents \u2014 and not just my constituents; I\u2019ve got people from outside the county. Just building up something that you said earlier about community pride and spirit \u2014 I mean, the community spirit is, from what I\u2019ve witnessed, is as high as it\u2019s ever been.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Great.<\/p>\n<p>MAYOR JONES JR.: It is \u2014 it is not \u2014 and what I\u2019ve learned also, that communities aren\u2019t just in neighborhoods, they\u2019re not just in towns and states; I\u2019m talking about a national community. People have come from all over the nation to come to Carteret County to assist us. And just on my way up here, I had three phone calls from people throughout the state that wanted to bring provisions down to Carteret County. And so I\u2019m helping organize that.<\/p>\n<p>And when I walked through the lines of the people \u2014 and I have to say this: My first experience, I\u2019ve never stood in line before to get a drink of water or a meal or sandwich or any way. The people, you know, when I ask them, my first question to them is, \u201cHow are you? Are you safe?\u201d And they said, \u201cYeah, we\u2019re safe. However, my neighbor, you know, they lost everything they had. You know, my house is under water.\u201d And my response to them always is, \u201cYes, but at least we are here today talking about it.\u201d And they always just give praise to God when that\u2019s mentioned.<\/p>\n<p>And so I\u2019ll know we\u2019ll get through this together. It\u2019s baby steps, as we all mentioned. Although it happened overnight, the rebuilding is not going to be overnight. But from the state and local level, the federal level, we\u2019ll make it happen.<\/p>\n<p>And again, just the presence of everybody around this table is going to mean a whole lot to everybody affected with Hurricane Florence. So, thank you.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Mayor. Appreciate it.<\/p>\n<p>COMMISSIONER MANSFIELD: Mr. President, Mark Mansfield, Chairman of the Carteret County Commissioners. And I want to thank you and your team for coming down with Governor Cooper, Senator Tillis, Senator Burr, and other representatives.<\/p>\n<p>And I\u2019d especially like to thank Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest. He came down the day after the hurricane and visited us personally at the emergency operations center.<\/p>\n<p>Things are still dire in Carteret County. We have \u2014 over half of our whole county is without power. We obviously have had the river and the creek flooding \u2014 storm surge flooding. And Williston to Stacy, they had probably 8 to 12 feet of water in homes.<\/p>\n<p>These people have been displaced, and we are temporarily sheltering, neighbors are sheltering, but we\u2019re going to need help with shelter.<\/p>\n<p>The big thing is public safety. We haven\u2019t had trash pickup since the Wednesday before the storm. They\u2019ve cut and run. We\u2019re getting back open now. But for health reasons, we need to make sure that we get all of your guys\u2019 help to expedite the boots on the ground.<\/p>\n<p>I mean, I know protocols and procedures \u2014 you\u2019ve got manuals \u2014 but as I look around, I see the military force here, anybody who\u2019s done training, you know training is one thing, but being in the foxhole when the bullets are coming by your head are completely different. And we hope we will have all your continued support to help our boots on the ground, facilitate the resources, and help the people of our county and the surrounding counties in Eastern North Carolina.<\/p>\n<p>I thank all you guys again. We appreciate all you\u2019re doing. And we\u2019ll probably be asking you for more. Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Excuse me?<\/p>\n<p>MS. GOOD: (Inaudible.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Yes, please.<\/p>\n<p>MS. GOOD: Mr. President, thank you so much for being here, for coming to North Carolina. The story for Duke Energy is also a story of partnership. And so I\u2019m pleased to report that we\u2019ve restored a million and a half citizens for power. We have 150,000 to go. And we will not leave until that power is restored.<\/p>\n<p>Now, we had the opportunity to work with so many around the table that have made it possible with the Governor and his administration, with Director Sprayberry, with the federal agencies, Secretary Nielsen, Under Secretary Krebs, not only the planning but the resources necessary to restore power on this scale. So we thank you for the leadership and the partnership. It\u2019s made it possible. And we\u2019re anxious to get 150,000 more citizens back.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Good. Thank you very much. And how is Lake Norman, that area? How is that doing?<\/p>\n<p>MS. GOOD: Good.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: It\u2019s doing good?<\/p>\n<p>MS. GOOD: But still 10 or 12 inches of rain.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: I love that area. I can\u2019t tell you why, but I love that area.<\/p>\n<p>MS. GOOD: It\u2019s very nice. Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: It\u2019s been really terrific.<\/p>\n<p>GENERAL O\u2019SHAUGHNESSY: Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>GENERAL O\u2019SHAUGHNESSY: Mr. President, Secretary Mattis gave us very clear direction from the Department of Defense to make sure that we anticipate every need that the states could have so we could help the citizens.<\/p>\n<p>Governor Cooper\u2019s team here was phenomenal to help us understand what exactly those needs were going to be so we could pre-posture and be ready for immediate response. So, hats off to Governor Cooper and the broader team here in North Carolina.<\/p>\n<p>And also, at FEMA, Brock Long was able to help us coordinate that federal response that was seamlessly tied into the state and local efforts. And I\u2019d like to highlight, Mr. President, that there are 28 different states that have contributed to the National Guard, through the EMACs \u2014 the compacts that they have with the state of North Carolina, between North Carolina and South Carolina \u2014 and that just shows the strength of the National Guard as well, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Great job, General. Appreciate it.<\/p>\n<p>Okay. Thank you very much. Let\u2019s get back to work.<\/p>\n<p>END<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cherry Point, NC&#8230;Well, thank you very much everybody. We appreciate it very \u2014 the job you\u2019ve done has been incredible. Incredible. They\u2019re talking about it all over the world. And we want to keep it going that way, because some of the hard work is now. We\u2019ve gone through very dangerous work, and still dangerous, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/whitehouselogo200.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=67062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=67062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=67062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=67062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}