Obama Gets First-Hand Look at Storm Devastation -
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Hurricane Sandy death toll climbs above
The U.S. death toll from Hurricane Sandy rose Saturday, reaching 113, up from 97 Friday. 48 of the deaths were in New York, followed by New Jersey with 24, Pennsylvania 14, Maryland 11, West Virginia seven and Connecticut four, North Carolina two, Virginia two and New Hampshire one
Staten Island Devastated..
Superstorm Sandy: Mother whose boys were swept out of her arms ...
Mother whose two boys were swept out of her arms in Sandy was left screaming on street for 12 hours by neighbors who refused to help her
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- Police find bodies of Glenda Moore's sons Connor, 4, and Brandon, 2
- Mrs Moore battled to hold on to the boys but they were sucked away
- She knocked on door but was told: 'I don't know you. I'm not going to help'
- Another neighbor refused to answer and she spent night crying on street
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The remains of Brandon, two, and Connor Moore, four, were discovered only yards from where they went missing in Staten Island, New York.
The boys' mother Glenda Moore, 39, is said to have spent 12 hours screaming in the street after they were swept away, but residents would not help her look for them.
The boys were sucked away by floodwater after Mrs Moore's car stalled and became stuck just before 6pm on Monday near the 400-block of Fr. Capodanno Boulevard in South Beach.
Mrs Moore, a nurse, tried to hold on to them but was overpowered by the force of the storm.
Police found the young brothers about 30 yards off the corner of McLaughlin Street and Father Capodanno Boulevard.
'Terrible, absolutely terrible,' police commissioner Ray Kelly said. 'It just compounds all the tragic aspects of this horrific event.'
The boys were about 20 yards apart from each other, under water, buried by trees and debris, law enforcement sources told the New York Post.
After the storm cleared on Tuesday morning, officers, dogs and other searchers - armed with shovels, sticks and pitchforks - had been scouring those marshlands off Father Capodanno.
A team of scuba divers were also there to search the marshy area.
At 10:15am today, police in wetsuits found Brandon waist-deep in water. His brother was found close by shortly after.
After the boys disappeared, Mrs Moore knocked on a nearby door for help but was told: 'I don't know you. I'm not going to help you.'
Mrs Moore then tried another neighbor near her Staten Island home, but when she rang the bell they turned off the lights and refused to answer.
As the storm raged around her, the nurse took shelter in a doorstep, screaming and staring at the waters which had just snatched away her children.
Twelve hours later, at dawn when the weather calmed down, she found the strength to walk down the street and flag down a passing police car to raise the alarm.
Her cousin Nancy Jean, 41, fought back tears as she described the ordeal.
'I can’t believe the way she was treated by the people she went to for help,' she said.
'The first person she knocked on, she begged them and said: "Please call 911".
'They told her: "I don't know you" and closed the door. She tried another door but they turned the lights off.
‘I can’t imagine what she was thinking then. She sat down for 12 hours and was just screaming. She was out of it. When it got to morning she went and found a police car and told him what happened.’
A friend of the mother who lost two young sons to Superstorm Sandy today urged the public to 'keep them in your prayers, they're going to need it'.
The woman said Glenda Moore is 'in pain, she's hurting' after the death of Connor, four, and Brandon, two when their car was hit by a giant wave.
The woman, who was dressed in black, was speaking outside the home of Mrs Moore's mother Maria in the Kensington neighbourhood of Brooklyn, New York.
Aged in her 50s, she said: 'Keep them in your prayers, they are going to need it. It's a shock for everybody right now.
'I'm so emotional. I have children almost the same age. She [Glenda] is in pain. She's hurting.'
Asked about the boys, the friend said: 'They were joyful, they were very happy. They were very good kids'.
When MailOnline knocked on the door a female relative with a Jamaican accent opened a first floor window and said: 'We're not saying anything'.
Other relatives could be seen entering the semi detached $200,000 home and breaking down in tears as they were given hugs.
Mrs Moore’s aunt, who declined to give her name, also told the New York Daily News: ‘They answered the door and said, "I don't know you. I'm not going to help you".
‘My sister's like 5ft 3in, 130 pounds. She looks like a little girl. She's going to come to you and you're going to slam the door in her face and say, "I don't know you, I can't help you"?'
The aunt also said Mrs Moore told her she was knocked into the freezing waters herself by the power of the storm.
‘She was holding on to them, and the waves just kept coming and crashing and they were under.
‘It went over their heads… She had them in her arms, and a wave came and swept them out of her arms.
‘She [Mrs Moore] said she got shoved, and then the wave just took the car and flipped it over. She was knocked down.’
Tragedy struck on Monday as Mrs Moore was trying to flee her home to get to Brooklyn where her mother Maria Lemaire, 64, lives.
As her Ford Explorer stalled on the Father Capodanno Boulevard in South Beach, she got out of the vehicle and freed both boys from their seat belts.
She was holding on to them, and the waves just kept coming and crashing and they were under. It went over their heads… She had them in her arms, and a wave came and swept them out of her arms. Then the wave just took the car and flipped it over. She was knocked down.She grabbed them and put one under each arm - but lost her grip as a huge wave pounded over their heads.
Mrs Moore is married to Damien, 39, who works at the New York Sanitation Department. They have no other children and are ‘devastated’ at the loss of their sons.
Miss Jean said: ‘They were beautiful boys. They were regular kids, they were just two and four years of age. They were always well behaved.
‘I saw them on Monday morning because I watch them when their mother goes to work.
‘They were really happy and I know Glenda had bought them some Halloween costumes and was going to take them out on Halloween.’
The aunt added: ‘They're the most beautiful children ever. One's a redhead, the other a dirty blonde.'
Reached at her home in Brooklyn, New York, Glenda’s sister Sophia, 42, said: ‘I’m sorry, I have no comment’.
Ms Moore told police her car stalled and she became stranded in the marsh when the left her home in search of higher ground as the storm worsened.
Officers from the NYPD Scuba Unit fanned out across the Staten Island marsh on the Boulevard in search of the boys.
'Cops were in there hip deep trying to get them,' a witness said.
VIDEO: Watch the police search for the two missing boys
News: Obama Tours NJ Storm Destruction With Christie as Deaths Toll Rise
Obama tours New Jersey superstorm damage with Chris Christie ...
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — President Barack Obama got an up-close look at the devastation wrought by superstorm Sandy on Wednesday, ...
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyZltYdr8AoNew
President Obama discusses efforts underway to prepare for Hurricane Sandy and urges those who may be ... | |
President Barack Obama and NJ Gov. Christie on the tarmac in Atlantic City, New Jersey 
A North Texas pastor was killed Monday by an attacker who rammed a car into a church wall, chased the pastor and beat him with an electric guitar, police said.
FOREST HILL, Texas (AP) - A pastor in suburban Fort Worth was killed Monday by an attacker who rammed a car into a church wall, chased the pastor and beat him with an electric guitar, police said.
Forest Hill police did not say why the unidentified suspect attacked the Rev. Danny Kirk Sr., the founding pastor of Greater Sweethome Missionary Baptist Church.
The suspect, who police subdued by using a Taser, died a short time after being taken into custody.
Forest Hill Police Chief Dan Dennis said the suspect drove his car into a church wall before noon Monday, apparently on purpose. The suspect got out of the car and began to attack the pastor in the parking lot before chasing him into the church, Dennis said. The church secretary hid and called 911, Dennis said.
Police arrived to find the suspect assaulting Kirk with an electric guitar that they believe was already inside the church, Dennis said. An officer used a Taser on the suspect, handcuffed him and put him in the back of a patrol car.
By then, Kirk had died, Dennis said. A maintenance worker who tried to help Kirk was injured and taken to an area hospital. His condition was unknown.
Dennis said the suspect was found unresponsive shortly after being detained and was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
FOREST HILL, Texas (AP) - A pastor in suburban Fort Worth was killed Monday by an attacker who rammed a car into a church wall, chased the pastor and beat him with an electric guitar, police said.
Forest Hill police did not say why the unidentified suspect attacked the Rev. Danny Kirk Sr., the founding pastor of Greater Sweethome Missionary Baptist Church.
The suspect, who police subdued by using a Taser, died a short time after being taken into custody.
Forest Hill Police Chief Dan Dennis said the suspect drove his car into a church wall before noon Monday, apparently on purpose. The suspect got out of the car and began to attack the pastor in the parking lot before chasing him into the church, Dennis said. The church secretary hid and called 911, Dennis said.
Police arrived to find the suspect assaulting Kirk with an electric guitar that they believe was already inside the church, Dennis said. An officer used a Taser on the suspect, handcuffed him and put him in the back of a patrol car.
By then, Kirk had died, Dennis said. A maintenance worker who tried to help Kirk was injured and taken to an area hospital. His condition was unknown.
Dennis said the suspect was found unresponsive shortly after being detained and was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
US north-east reels after Sandy leaves trail of 'unthinkable' damage – live coverage
Live
• At least 33 people reported dead and 7.5 million without power
• Obama declares major disaster in New York, Long Island, New Jersey
• NJ governor Chris Christie calls level of devastation 'unthinkable'
• Obama declares major disaster in New York, Long Island, New Jersey
• NJ governor Chris Christie calls level of devastation 'unthinkable'
“The president has been outstanding in this and so have the folks at FEMA,” Christie said on NBC’s “Today” show.
Christie, whose state is among the hardest hit by the storm, made appearances on several morning talk shows on Tuesday and applauded Obama at each stop.
On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Christie said “the president has been all over this, and he deserves great credit. He gave me his number at the White House and told me to call him if I needed anything and he absolutely means it, and it’s been very good working with the president and his administration.”
On CNN’s “Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien,” Christie added that Obama “has been incredibly supportive and helpful to our state, and not once did he bring up the election.”
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President convened a video-teleconference in the White House Situation Room with his team to receive the latest update on Hurricane Sandy, and federal efforts underway to support response activities in several states. Overnight, at the requests of the Governors, the President approved major disaster declarations for the states of New Jersey and New York, making additional federal support for state and local efforts available, as well as direct federal assistance to affected individuals in declared counties. On the video-teleconference the President was joined by Vice President Biden, Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano, FEMA Administrator Fugate, Secretary of Energy Chu, Transportation Secretary Lahood, Defense Secretary Panetta, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Winnefeld, USNORTHCOM Commander General Jacoby, Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius, and National Hurricane Center Director Dr. Knabb. Treasury Secretary Geithner joined the briefing by phone. The President was joined in the Situation Room by Chief of Staff Jack Lew, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security John Brennan, Deputy Chief of Staff Alyssa Mastromonaco, Deputy Assistant to the President for Homeland Security Richard Reed, White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs David Agnew, National Security Advisor to the Vice President Tony Blinken, and other senior members of the President's team. During the briefing the President expressed his concern for those impacted by the storm, as well as the heroic first responders who are selflessly putting themselves in harm’s way to protect members of their communities. He also noted his sadness over the loss of life associated with the storm so far. The President was updated on Sandy’s track and impacts, and heard from Administrator Fugate on the federal coordination and resources being brought to bear to support state and local responders, including the extensive deployment of resources, such as generators that were pre-staged ahead of the storm, as well as National Guard units which have been activated in a number of states. Through FEMA, the federal government is leveraging assets from the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the Department of Transportation and the Department of Health and Human Services. The President also received an update from Secretary Geithner on conditions in financial markets and the operations of the financial system.
The President told his team that their top priority is to make sure all available resources are being provided to state and local responders as quickly as possible and directed them to identify and resolve any potential bottlenecks or shortfalls should they arise. The President made clear that beyond the immediate lifesaving and life sustaining activities, which remain the primary focus, he wanted his team to continue to focus on what they can do to support state, local, and private sector efforts to restore power and asked the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy to continue to work in support of FEMA towards this goal. The President made clear that he expects his team to remin focused as the immediate impacts of Hurricane Sandy continue and lean forward in their response. The President urges Americans to continue to follow the direction and advice of local officials, Governors, and Mayors, many of whom the President will speak with later today.
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