Houston, Texas, Flooding

Floor Speech

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Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, this is a continuation of my mission of mercy, a mission that I gladly accept because a great American city has been declared a disaster area: a great American city with 2-plus million people, a great American city where we speak more than 100 different languages, a great American city where we appreciate diversity and we celebrate it. In fact, we have developed a symbiotic relationship, a symbiosis such that we can do together what we could never do apart. A great American city, Houston, Texas, within Harris County, has been declared a disaster area; and it has been declared a disaster area, Mr. Speaker, because of the flooding that takes place in Houston, Texas.

I asked that my staff prepare some intelligence for me to share so as to paint a picture of what this flooding is like in Houston, Texas.

In Houston, Texas, on the tax day flood--so-called because it was the last day to file for taxes this year--we had this tax day flood, and it has caused damages that will approximate $2 billion. The good news is that that is revised down because the estimate initially was that it would be more.

In Houston, Texas, over 100 neighborhoods experienced some flooding.

In Houston, Texas, a great American city, we had 240 billion--billion with a B--240 billion gallons of water. A billion is still 1,000 million. So we have had 2,000-million-plus gallons of water in Houston, Texas. And that was on one day. This is enough water to fill the Astrodome 750 times over.

In Houston, Texas, we had more than 1,200 high water rescues, people stranded, lives at risk in Houston, Texas, a major American city, a great American city declared a disaster area.

In Houston, Texas, there was 8.85 inches of rainfall--that broke the previous record from 1976--and, I might add, in some areas, 17 inches of water. That was all a part of the tax day floods. There were 121,000 people without power.

Mr. Speaker, this is significant, but it is also significant to note that this is not the first time. Within the last year, 12 months, we had the Memorial Day flood, with similar circumstances and $2 billion in damages.

Mr. Speaker, over the last 20 years, we have had at least one day of flooding in Houston, Texas, that has been called to the attention of the people in Washington, D.C., and I'm doing so now.

Mr. Speaker, as bad as these things are, all of these damages that I have called to our attention, there is something more significant, something more meaningful that is happening in Houston, Texas, and that is lives are being lost. In the tax day flood, we lost nine lives, Mr. Speaker--nine lives--people who left home going to work, assuming that they would drive their cars and return home.

Mr. Speaker, we have, in Houston, what are called flash floods. Even people who are judicious and prudent can sometimes find themselves in circumstances from which they cannot extricate themselves because of the way the water comes in so quickly--flash floods, nine lives lost, a great American city declared a disaster area.

Houston needs a lifeline. When you are drowning in water, you need a lifeline. Well, there is a lifeline. The lifeline is H.R. 5025, the 2016 Tax Day Floods Supplemental Funding Act. This is a supplemental funding bill, which means it is not an earmark. It is the kind of thing we do when we have emergencies to contend with. We have done this before when we have had the storms on the East Coast. We have done this before, when we had New Orleans, Louisiana, and Katrina. We have done it when we have had fires. We have done it when we have had the tornadic activities. This is reasonable. It is prudent. It is judicious. It is something we ought to do to rescue, to throw a lifeline to a great American city that has been declared a disaster area.

Well, the good news is, Mr. Speaker, we are recovering; but I hate to say, and I regret to say, I am reluctant to say, we are not out of the woods yet. We are not out of the woods yet, Mr. Speaker, because today there is an 80 percent chance of precipitation. Tomorrow, there is an 80 percent chance.

I beg that we support H.R. 5025 and extend a lifeline to Houston, Texas, a great American city.

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