[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 43 (Monday, October 31, 2005)]
[Pages 1607-1608]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks During a Tour of Areas Damaged by Hurricane Wilma in Pompano 
Beach, Florida

October 27, 2005

    The President. I have come here with the Governor and the mayor of 
this area because I wanted to thank all the volunteers who have come 
down to help the people in need. And it's an amazing spirit after a 
disaster, and that spirit is the spirit of people willing to give of 
their time. I've also come to make sure the Federal response dovetails 
in with the State response. And people here--what I've

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heard is people are concerned about gasoline. A lot of the gasoline--the 
lines that people are standing in will be alleviated by new ships coming 
in, and they'll be able to off-load the gasoline to make sure the 
stations have got fuel. But a lot of the gasoline issue relates to the 
fact that electricity is not up and running.

    I know people are frustrated because they don't have power on yet, 
but I've been told by Jeb and others that at least 6,000 people from out 
of State are working with the power people here in-State to get people's 
lines up as quick as possible. In other words, this is a priority. These 
people are working hard to get your electricity back on.

    The mayor wanted me to make sure that I told the citizens here that 
water and ice are moving quite rapidly, and that one of her concerns is 
generators. And Jeb and I spoke to her about the generators that are 
being moved from a central location to parts of Florida that need the 
generating capacity to get their life up and running.

    Things don't happen instantly, but things are happening. Right here 
on this site people are getting fed. Soon, more and more houses will 
have their electricity back on and life will get back to normal. In the 
meantime, the Federal Government, working with the State and local 
government, is responding as best as we possibly can.

    Again, I'm impressed by the deep compassion and care of our fellow 
citizens. Out of these disasters oftentimes comes some good. And one of 
the good that comes out of a disaster is it gives people a chance to 
love a neighbor, to help somebody in need.

    So thank you all for giving me a chance to come by.

Note: The President spoke at 1:45 p.m. In his remarks, he referred to 
Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida; and Mayor Kristen Jacobs of Broward County, 
FL. A tape was not available for verification of the content of these 
remarks.