Details are being tightly guarded about where President Obama will go Sunday when he visits Paterson to see the damage wrought by Hurricane Irene.

Only Obama’s arrival at Newark Liberty International Airport is open to the press. The rest of his travels Sunday afternoon will be watched by a small group of pool reporters.

Obama is coming to New Jersey to see first-hand what happened and try to remind the country “that many, many Americans were severely affected,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said Thursday.

The president believes it is important “to see up close and personal what the effects of a storm like this were, … talk to affected Americans, talk to first responders and to those officials who are working on recovery, and hear from them,” Carney said.

Governor Christie will join the president, the White House said. Also expected are Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Bob Menendez, both D-N.J., and Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson.

“It means a lot that he is coming to our community during this time of great need,” Pascrell said. “President Obama’s being here will show that he is personally concerned.”

As Hurricane Irene approached, an estimated 1 million people heeded warnings and fled from the Jersey Shore. Atlantic City casinos closed for only the third time ever, and portions of the Garden State Parkway were at one time open only for northbound traffic.

After it made landfall early Sunday, at least seven deaths were attributed to flooding or other storm-related causes and more than 750,000 people lost power.

At the Shore, some towns’ boardwalks were washed away, but the biggest destruction came from inland floods.

The state tallied at least 317 roads statewide, including 67 in Bergen, Hudson, Morris and Passaic counties, that were closed due to flooding or downed trees on Monday. Floodwaters undermined a part of Interstate 287 in Boonton, and the road did not reopen until Friday. Rail service on the Northeast Corridor was stopped after Trenton’s train station flooded, and service was not fully restored until Wednesday.

Paterson was split into two cities for much of the week, with several bridges over the swollen Passaic closed for safety reasons. Some 1,500 Paterson residents were still unable to return to their homes as of Thursday, according to the state Office of Emergency Management.

Obama on Wednesday declared the state a disaster area because of the storm and made affected individuals and businesses in Bergen, Essex, Morris, Passaic and Somerset available for federal aid and loans for uninsured losses. Other counties could be added.

READ MORE: BERGEN COUNTY RECORD