He's on now. We are dealing with one of the worst national disasters in our nation's history. Cabinet has met. Chertoff to direct a Cabinet level task force.
President: This recover will take years.
Our first priority is to save lives. Thanking Harris county, Texas for providing refuge to those in the Superdome. FEMA has deployed over 1000 personal. Coast Guard has rescued 2000 people to date.
Recovery will take along time... possibly years!
3 Priorities: to save lives; to sustain lives by getting necessary supplies to them (including water and MREs); and to restore utilities, roads and services as quickly as possible.