>>>
folks in the northeast are still dealing with the aftermath of last weekend's storm,
irene
. in already hard-hit vermont, there's a
flood watch
flood watch
with forecasters expecting up to four inches of rain in that state. tens of thousands of homes and businesses still have no power along the
east coast
. 25,000 of them in connecticut alone.
>>>
president obama
took time to survey the damage from
irene
today in waterlogged
northern new jersey
. nbc's
kristen
welker joins us from
patterson
, new jersey, a city facing
hard times
even before the water started rising.
kristen
, good evening.
>> reporter:
good evening to you, kate. the
passaic river
raging behind me caused some of the worst flooding this community has seen in over a century. it has receded a bit since last week, but this community is still hurting. a federal show of force.
president obama
walked the streets of wayne, new jersey, with governor
chris christie
, new jersey's senators and fema administrator, craig fugate, to view the damage left by
hurricane irene
.
>>
we'll be here to help. i know, it's very hard.
>> reporter:
his next stop,
patterson
, where he visited the new fema office. and delivered a message to those still struggling.
>>
i know there's been some talk about whether there's going to be a slowdown in getting funding here. as
president of the united states
, i want to make it very clear that we're going to meet our federal obligations.
>> reporter:
and while the president was met mostly by cheering crowds,
amy allen
, who caught a glimpse of the motorcade said the visit hasn't done anything to get her power back on.
>>
this is day six without any electricity, any
hot water
.
>> reporter:
even before the hurricane hit,
patterson
was struggling economically, with an unemployment rate above 16%.
irene
caused
1500
people to be evacuated, and knocked out power to thousands in the area. destroying some homes and businesses completely.
>>
whether they were unemployed, underemployed. they had a tough time before this. so now this catastrophe leaves them with basically nothing.
>> reporter:
the president's challenge now is not only to help this community recover from
irene
, but also, much like the rest of the country, to put people back to work. his other task? to keep their confidence, mr. obama won new jersey in
2008
, but his approval rating has been dwindling. now the stricken people of
patterson
just want to see something done.
>>
basically it's very hot. the water, i have a lot of mold.
>> reporter:
now power has been restored to most of the people here, save a few. and the folks who do have power say they will be watching the president's jobs speech this thursday quite closely. kate?
>>
kristen
welker in new jersey tonight.
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