Hurricane Sandy: Pakistan mission in US in close contact with diaspora

Obama and Romney postpone election campaigns in wake of hurricane, but say it will not affect elections.

WASHINGTON: The Pakistan Embassy in Washington says it is in touch with expatriate Pakistanis, and members of the Pakistani diaspora who reside in states affected by Hurricane Sandy.

In a statement issued via email, the Embassy said that they were in close coordination with the Pakistan consulate general in New York.

The statement said that the Embassy and the Consulate General have approached members of the Pakistani community via phone and email, and urged them to take all necessary safety precautions as required by their respective governments.

The Embassy said they have "distributed through these contacts and the  Embassy website the contact details of key Embassy officials for any emergency service that they may need," and provided the US Government officials with contact details of the relevant embassy officials to be contacted in case of emergency. Additionally, Pakistanis in the US can contact the embassy on:  202-701-4430.

The Embassy said that it would be closed on Monday as a state of emergency has been declared in the American capital, but added that there was staff on standby to respond to any contingency.

The states of New York, New Jersey and Maryland in particular are home to a sizeable Pakistani population that may be affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Obama more concerned about people than elections

US President Barack Obama has said that he is not worried at this point the effect of Hurricane Sandy has on the upcoming elections, but more concerned about families, first-responders, transportation and economy.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, the President said that the election would take care of itself next week. He said that millions of people were going to be affected by the storm.

Obama added that the storm could "potentially have severe consequences for those who haven't evacuated."

The US President said that they expect power outages, flooding and transportation to be effected by the
hurricane.

On Sunday, a state of emergency was declared in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, District of Columbia, Delaware, Connecticut, Pennsylvannia, Rhode Island and Maryland. Federal government offices were closed in the US capital on Monday. In New York, New Jersey, Boston and Washington DC, subway systems have been closed.

Both President Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney have cancelled campaign activities for Monday and Tuesday.

The US presidential election is scheduled to take place on November 6.