Christie’s remarks regarding Hurricane Joaquin preparedness

Transcript:

Governor Christie: We are not quite yet sure about whether this is going to be a single punch or a double punch. There’s no question there’s going to be a single punch that is going to start this evening, and there are going to be winds up to 75 to 85 mph in the southern part of the state in addition to the rain which we expect to be 5 to 6 inches. Those are nor’easter type conditions and everyone needs to be prepared for that. That can, you know, cause not only flooding but also the type of interruption of power and other services that we need to be paying attention to and you all in the public need to be prepared to deal with that in the same way that we’ll be prepared to deal with it as well, but for our citizens in those four southern counties, that preparation needs to start now. For the folks in the other seventeen counties in the state, we need you to stay tuned. When we have more information, which I’m sure we will later today, we’ll be able to get you the information you need to make the preparations that you need to make for yourself and for your family. You need to understand that we’re prepared and we need you to prepare and not panic. Now I understand that this is a state that’s been traumatized by the second-worst disaster in American history just quite, not quite three years ago, and I understand that there will be people who, when they start to hear this news, will feel an enormous amount of stress over the possibility that something severe could happen to the state again. Two things you need to know about that. One, there’s nothing we can do to control it, and worrying and stressing about it will not change the path of the storm. Secondly, you need to know that the state is prepared to deal with whatever we need to deal with depending upon the path of the storm, and I need all of you to be able to do the things you need to do to protect yourselves and your families, and so go to ready.nj.gov. Make sure you go to the website to remind yourself of the things that we all learned three years ago, and we’re prepared. The team behind me and the folks they represent are prepared, and we’ll continue to keep everybody informed as is necessary.