The only thing that obama is doing is taking advantage of this due to the closeness of the election. All he can do is declare a state of emergency at a federal level which directs taxpayer money to the affected areas.
we had worse hits back in the 70s. 7' in 2 days, no power for 5 weeks. We had to pull whole families out by snowmobile at 3 AM (4 miles, no gps, no cell phones or radios)
EXACTLY..regardless of the politicians Americans get the job done and they dont have to go bawling all over to do it.