Obama remembers Sandy victims at Christmas tree lighting

(AFP) - President Barack Obama on Thursday empathised with Superstorm Sandy victims as he dispensed seasonal cheer at the lighting of the US National Christmas tree in Washington.

Obama and his family switched on the lights of a new tree, on the Ellipse just outside the White House grounds, which replaced last year's version which died after only one year in the role.

"It was planted just days before Hurricane Sandy and it made it through the storm in once piece," Obama said.

"We know that some of our neighbors to the north saw a more ruthless and destructive Sandy," Obama said, but paid tribute to the "heroism and perseverance," of ordinary Americans caught in the monster storm.