President Obama Asks for Cooperation in Face of Storm

President Obama today asked Americans in the path of Hurricane Sandy to heed evacuation warnings, saying they could endanger emergency workers otherwise. “Please listen to what your state and local officials are saying,” he said. “If they say evacuate, evacuate. Don’t pause, don’t question the instructions that are being given, because it could potentially have fatal consequences if people haven’t acted, and acted quickly.” The public should anticipate power outages and transportation snafus “for a considerable amount of time” after the storm, but added: “We’re confident that assets are prepositioned for an effective response in the aftermath of the storm.” [CNN]