NEW BRUNSWICK — Gov. Chris Christie made a quick stop to visit hundreds of evacuees being housed at a shelter in New Brunswick today. Introducing himself simply as "Chris," the governor shook hands and offered comforting words. "Hang in there. You won't be here long," Christie told Tasha Jenkins, as she sat on a cot, her newborn baby in...
Gov. Chris Christie during a press conference at the New Jersey State Police Headquarters on Thursday. NEW BRUNSWICK — Gov. Chris Christie made a quick stop to visit hundreds of evacuees being housed at a shelter in New Brunswick today.
Introducing himself simply as "Chris," the governor shook hands and offered comforting words.
"Hang in there. You won't be here long," Christie told Tasha Jenkins, as she sat on a cot, her newborn baby in a car carrier next to her. "We're going to keep you safe until it passes."
The governor weaved around rows of cots set up at the gym in the Sonny Werblin Center on Rutgers University's main campus. Many recognized him; others didn't.
"Oh, that was the governor?" said Jenkins, 28, of Ventnor. "I didn't even know that was governor. ... We just got here. Everything has been hectic. At least we're safe."
Many evacuees were bused first to a temporary shelter in Trenton, where there were no cots to sleep on. People spent Friday night on bleachers.
"It could have been a lot better as far as them not having enough organized, them having us sitting around waiting, hours to eat, kids having to eat — having nothing to eat in hours. We went to Mays Landing and then we went to Trenton," Jenkins said.
Christie was joined by Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and Charles McKenna, director for the state's Department of Homeland Security.
"This is night and day. They have beds here," Guadagno said. "They had to sleep sitting up last night (in Trenton). It was just a staging area. There was no generator to keep the lights on after they went out so we couldn't keep them there."
Many of the evacuees had long journeys to a dry shelter, some longer than 12 hours.
Stacy Newkirk, of Atlantic City, who is nine months pregnant, spent the night at the Sun Center in Trenton, and unlike most there, was allowed to stay in a skybox.
"In Atlantic City, it has been pretty rough," Newkirk said. "But they got us out of there with good timing so we're going to be okay. They had us go to a few different places but those places were all filled up so finally we are here. Thank God we're here."
Newkirk's friend Robert Cox, 46, said he was rushed from his home with not much time to grab his belongings.
"I wanted to stay in Atlantic City," Cox said. "The evacuation was not expected, especially when they gave us minutes to get out of our places. So I wasn't able to grab medication, things like that."
The governor returned to State Police headquarters in Ewing after the visit, then headed up to his main residence in Mendham to dine with his family and pack some belongings. He will spend the night in Drumthwacket, the governor's mansion in Princeton, to be closer to State Police headquarters, said a spokeswoman.
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• Atlantic County Hurricane Irene evacuees try to make best of temporary stay in Trenton
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