The White House Blog

President Barack Obama delivers a statement to the press on Tropical Storm Isaac, in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, Aug. 28, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

After receiving the latest update about Tropical Storm Isaac from the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA, and the National Hurricane Center, President Obama spoke from the Diplomatic Room about the steps his administration is taking to prepare for the storm.

"Yesterday I approved a disaster declaration for the state of Louisiana so they can get the help that they need right away, particularly around some of the evacuations that are taking place," he said. "And right now, we already have response teams and supplies ready to help communities in the expected path of the storm."

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate and other federal officials have spoken with Gulf state governors and other local leaders to discuss their needs in advance of the storm.

The President urged those who live in potentially affected areas to pay close attention to warnings and evacuation orders posted by local officials.

"We’re dealing with a big storm and there could be significant flooding and other damage across a large area," he said. "Now is not the time to tempt fate. Now is not the time to dismiss official warnings. You need to take this seriously."

If you need information about what to do before, during, and after a hurricane, please visit Ready.gov

Watch the President speak on preparing for tropical storm Isaac.

As Isaac gathers strength in the Gulf of Mexico, forecasters with the National Weather Center are tracking the path of the storm, while federal disaster response teams are already in place throughout the Gulf region, coordinating with state response centers.

In a call with reporters earlier today, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate and Dr. Rick Knabb, the director of the National Hurricane Center, discussed those preparations and the latest potential trajectory for the tropical storm.

Forecasters have issued storm warnings for an area stretching from central Louisiana to the Florida panhandle and through the course of the call, Fugate and Knabb stressed that now is the time to prepare for Isaac.  Local residents should be ready to heed evacuation orders, if and when state and local officials issues those calls.

While Isaac is likely to become a hurricane today, Fugate and Knabb urged those in the path of the storm to focus less on its particular classification and more on the storm's size and the potential for a storm surge that could reach 6 to 12 feet -- as well as record levels of rain fall.

President Obama received a briefing from federal officials yesterday on efforts to prepare for the storm. FEMA's Instant Management Teams are already in place on the ground, and supplies like bottled water, food, and infant kits are being shipped to states under the storm warnings.

FEMA is providing regular updates about efforts to prepare for Isaac at FEMA.gov. The National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Service are also providing new severe weather watches and warnings as they gather new information.

You can learn what to do before, during, and after a hurricane at Ready.gov.

Update: President Obama spoke Tuesday morning about preparing for Tropical Storm Isaac, click here for the video.

Watch the West Wing Week.

Here's a quick glimpse at what happened this week on WhiteHouse.gov:

First Lady Michelle Obama Hosts First-Ever Kids' State Dinner: On Monday, First Lady Michelle Obama hosted the first-ever Kids’ “State Dinner” at the White House, welcoming 54 budding chefs to a formal luncheon in the East Room as part of her Let’s Move! initiative. The guests, all between the ages of 8 and 12, represented all U.S. states, three territories and the District of Columbia.

Each of the guests, along with their parents, submitted a healthy recipe as part of Epicurious’ Healthy Lunchtime Challenge, which invited families to create an original lunchtime recipe that is healthy, affordable and delicious, and follows the nutritional guidelines of MyPlate.

“Believe it or not, more than 1,200 kids submitted recipes for this challenge -- 1,200.  It's a big competition,” the First Lady said.  A panel of judges from the organizations that teamed up with Mrs. Obama on this initiative -- Epicurious, the Department of Education and the Department of Agriculture—tasted each of the recipes that made it to the final round of the competition and picked their favorites from each state, as Mrs. Obama explained.

To learn more about the Kids’ “State Dinner,” visit letsmove.gov/kids-state-dinner.

President Obama Held a Press Conference: Also on Monday, President Obama took questions from reporters and discussed a big new announcement from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

"Today, HHS announced that thanks to the health care law that we passed, nearly 5.4 million seniors with Medicare have saved over $4.1 billion on prescription drugs. That’s an average savings of more than $700 per person," he said. "This year alone, 18 million seniors with Medicare have taken advantage of new preventive care benefits like a mammogram or other cancer screening at no extra cost."

First Lady Michelle Obama greets Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal, Secretary of Board of Trustees and Oak Creek Mayor Stephen Scaffidi at Oak Creek High School in Milwaukee, WI, August 23, 2012. The First Lady was visiting Oak Creek to visit families of the victims of the recent shooting at a Sikh temple. (Official White House Photo by Sonya N. Hebert)

On Sunday, August 5, a gunman tore into the Sikh Gudwrara in Oak Creek, turning that temple, and the lives of community members within it, upside down.  Six people were killed and others wounded, some severely. There’s no explanation for why that gunman did what he did.  But what we do know is this: this horrible tragedy has revealed the courageous story of the Sikh community, and it reminds us that their story is an American story. 

Yesterday, First Lady Michelle Obama visited with the Sikh American families affected by the tragedy in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.  It was a time for condolences and for healing, and a day that the First Lady and the families of the victims will never forget. 

As she hugged grieving husbands and wives, comforted granddaughters and grandsons, and embraced sons and daughters, the First Lady lifted up the Sikh American story yesterday.  She not only expressed her condolences but also underscored how strong those who died were, and how strong the Sikh community continues to be.  Since the first Sikhs arrived at Angel Island in California almost 100 years ago, they have been woven into the fabric of our country. Doctors, artists and lawyers, politicians and priests, Sikh Americans have strengthened the United States in innumerable ways. The First Lady expressed her pride in the community yesterday, and looked into the eyes of the children in the room and said that she expects them to achieve ever greater things as well. 

Watch the West Wing Week here.

This week, The White House held an historic, first-ever Kids' State Dinner; hosted Americorps, School Improvement Grantees, and Presidential Innovation Fellows. The President held a news conference and spoke with regional reporters about the need for Congress to agree on a balanced deficit reduction plan; and the First Lady made a major veterans hiring announcement in Jacksonville, Florida.

I'm thrilled to announce that we are publishing the source code for We the People, the online petitions system that has been a popular way for the public to connect with the White House over the past year.

Since We the People went live, thousands of petitions have gathered millions of signatures from people across the country. As those petitions have come in, the White House has posted responses about an open internet & SOPA/PIPA, puppy mills, reducing student load debt, working to fix our broken immigration system, reaffirming the President's opposition to the Defense of Marriage Act, and more.  

When President Obama talked about We the People at the Open Government Partnership last year, he promised to, "share that technology so any government in the world can enable its citizens to do the same." Now anybody, from other countries to the smallest organizations to civic hackers can take this code and put to their own use.

Today marks three months since we released the Digital Government Strategy (PDF/ HTML5) – as part of the President’s directive to build a 21st Century Government that delivers better services to the American people.

Executing on this vision of government cannot happen alone. To provide the highest value of services, we must rethink from step one how government builds and provides services for the American people. We must unlock rich government data, information and services so that everyone from citizen developers and private sector entrepreneurs, to our very own Federal agencies can help provide the American people with the access to these services “anywhere, anytime, on any device.”

Today agencies are making great strides towards putting a solid foundation for a 21st Century Digital Government in place.

For example, the Census Bureau recently released its first mobile app, called “America’s Economy,” and just today released an iOS version. The app mashes up Census data with economic statistics from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and Bureau of Labor Statistics and provides the latest economic indicators that drive business hiring, sales, and production decisions throughout the nation in real time. Economists, planners, business owners, and the public can use the app to get a quick and easy snapshot of the health of the U.S. economy, look at trends, and receive notifications when indicators change. But as powerful as the app is, just as powerful is the way Census is releasing the underlying data through its first publicly available application programming interface (API).

The Census API, which pulls from the American Community Survey and the 2010 Census, has yielded an unprecedented level of interest from citizen developers. Over 800 external developers have already accessed the API since its release, and users have generated over 24 million data requests. And as an indication of how valuable and accessible this data is, it took only 24 hours for the first third-party app to be developed and we are excited to see the many more applications that will be developed using this data.

This is just one example of the power of unlocking rich government data sets and services to the public and is exactly what the Digital Government Strategy is trying to accomplish. But it is just the beginning.

With a few weeks of summer weather left, there is still plenty of time to explore the great outdoors. There are few better places to do that than in America’s national parks, wildlife refuges, waterways, and forests. A new and improved Recreation.gov website is the perfect tool to plan your family’s next adventure.

With improved navigation tools and more in-depth content, Recreation.gov showcases 90,000 federal sites and healthy outdoor spaces to consider.

The new website makes it easy to make reservations, see ready-made itineraries for destination cities, and search for activities on an interactive map.

“Tourism and outdoor recreation are powerful economic engines in communities across the country,” Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said. “With the redesign of Recreation.gov, we are making it easier for people to plan trips, find outdoor adventures, and explore activities at our public lands across the country.”

Some important new features include:

• Explore Trip Ideas: Explore Trip Ideas helps you discover points-of-interest on public lands when planning trips to popular destination cities like Atlanta, Miami, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and more.
• Go Lists: Go Lists highlight places to go, events, and activities at federal sites across the country with topics including “Day Hikes for Weekend Warriors” and “Civil War 150th Anniversary: Places and Events that Shaped Our Nation.”
• Discover Great American Adventures: Discover Great American Adventures offers more in-depth articles and destination spotlights, featuring a wide variety of experiences and adventures found only in America. Some destination spotlights include “Best Places to Star Gaze,” “Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming,” and many more.

Supporting President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative, Recreation.gov encourages people to be active outdoors and offers suggestions on hiking, climbing, biking and more. Check out the new Recreation.gov website to learn more.

Watch a video about the new Recreation.gov here.