Devastation From Hurricane Matthew

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. TILLIS. Madam President, I come to the Chamber to talk about a devastating event we have experienced in North Carolina. Last month, Hurricane Matthew skirted along the Atlantic coast, and then it plowed right through North Carolina with devastating results. Matthew is the worst storm we have experienced in almost 20 years, and it is already responsible for taking some 28 lives.

Millions of people in North Carolina and across the country watched as the storm made landfall, but after a few days, many of them turned their attention back to their daily lives. I don't fault them for doing this because unless you are there and see it firsthand, it is easy to think it was just a lot of rain and a storm that came and went, but it is far worse than that. Thousands of adults and children will take years to recover from the devastation that they have experienced over the last month.

The first opportunity I had to survey the damage was just 2 days after the hurricane made landfall. I traveled across the State in a helicopter with the commissioner of agriculture, and what I saw was remarkable. In fact, it was after the rain had occurred but before the floods began almost a week later.

The next week I spent time with many of my staff working as volunteers down in one of the areas that was hit hard by the flood. We worked with the American Red Cross, the Baptist Men, and the Salvation Army, which were trying to prepare food and provide shelter for so many people who were displaced.

I was back in the area last weekend, and I had an opportunity to witness firsthand the farm damage and the damage to one of our major areas outside of Fort Bragg, an urban area that was hit very hard. Over the course of the last 3 weeks, I have literally seen long stretches of interstate highways under water. I have seen major roads completely washed out. I have seen entire communities under water and a couple of towns that have been washed away. Some of them were washed away just 20 years ago.

I have seen farms that were under water for a period of time, and now their crops are rotting in the field. In other cases, farmers who had harvested their crops and prepared their land for the next planting season now have sand and debris on their fields.

I have heard heartbreaking stories from victims, rescue workers, and volunteers. I will share some of those stories. I also heard heartwarming stories about the responsiveness of our local, State, and Federal agencies and the kindness of neighbors and volunteers.

I wish to thank the State and local officials, FEMA, and the first responders, who are doing an excellent job under some of the most difficult circumstances.

The death and destruction caused by Hurricane Matthew is really impossible to comprehend. The 28 lives we lost are a cross section of the State. They are parents and grandparents, sons and daughters, leaders of our community and young people who had their entire lives ahead of them. One of the victims was Charles Ivey. He was a resident of Lumberton, one of the areas that was hardest hit. He was a pillar of his community. Charles served as a deacon and Sunday school director at West Lumberton Baptist Church. He was an active member of the Lumberton Lions Club, Jaycees, Robeson County Fair Board, and West Lumberton Community Watch. He was the loving father of two daughters, had four grandchildren, and leaves behind his wife Wanda.

Another victim who perished as a result of the storms was Isabelle Ralls of Godwin. She was a resilient woman who survived cancer, triple- bypass surgery, and kidney failure. She devoted her life to others, spending years as a caregiver for the Peace Corps. She was a Sunday school teacher and the church historian at Spring Hills Baptist Church.

Her family and friends will always remember her as a phenomenal woman and role model who had an inspiring faith in God.

These are just a couple of stories about the victims of Hurricane Matthew. They were all people I could probably tell stories about. They were mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, and loving friends--28 precious lives lost in total. I hope the family and friends of the victims know that millions of North Carolinians and people across the Nation are praying for them and their recovery.

Although the loss of life alone was devastating, it is really not the total story. In fact, it will take years to recover. Hurricane Matthew was a massive storm. To give you an idea, it is what is referred to as a 1,000-year flood event. In other words, for this area, statistically speaking, it will be another 1,000 years before they see the amount of water dumped in the same period of time. It was a 500-year flood event for a massive part of Eastern North Carolina. Thousands of people were forced out of their homes and relocated to shelters. Many are still in temporary housing and thousands of the homes are not habitable. The storm flooded areas that were well outside of the 100-year floodplain. So many of them didn't have flood insurance.

Last week I visited one of those communities. It was a Habitat for Humanity community that had some 90 homes built over the last 15 to 16 years. Sixty of those homes are under water. Those 60 homes are not habitable, and as a result, 60 families are displaced.

The pain is, as I said before, hard to imagine. It is immeasurable.

To give you an idea, we have reports of several victims, and I have summarized a few of them. Another victim is Ann Johnson from Lenoir County, another county that was hard hit. She was one of the many people who were displaced and had to live in a shelter. As she was waiting in the shelter, she told a reporter:

I just feel kind of lost right now, loss for words. You kind of feel like you don't have anything and you're just starting all over again.

Another victim, Perry Harris of Johnston County, south of Raleigh, sustained more than $1 million in damage to a small business that four of his children worked at and had for some 15 years. He said:

It is very emotional. I've been trying to do the best I can. I have four kids that work for me. It has been very hard on my family. We just don't know what tomorrow brings.

Another victim, Charlie Mitchell, who is a farmer in Wayne County, lost the home he lived in for 49 years. He has a 2,000-acre farm that was submerged under water. He said: ``I've been in floods or around floods all my life, but I've never seen anything like this.'' Hurricane Matthew has been especially difficult for children as well.
In fact, the teachers and school counselors in Cumberland County asked the students to write down their experience to kind of help them begin to cope and recover from the traumatic experience. There was one sixth grade student who wrote:

I heard a loud crack followed by three loud thuds. When my family got out of bed, I saw three big trees, and one destroyed the kitchen. Not even five minutes after we left, the ceiling collapsed in all rooms except for the bathroom and my mom's room.

Matthew has been a life-changing event for many North Carolinians.

Relatives and friends who lost a loved one, families who lost their homes, small businesses and owners who can no longer find a place to work and employ others, farmers who have watched their once-fertile land become unproductive due to the flooding.

I share these stories because North Carolina will need help, just like West Virginia, Louisiana, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.

Those States have also has been damaged in this storm season or in the flood season. Many people lost their lives, and those States need help.

North Carolina needs help.

My team is working with Senator Burr and my House colleagues to really try and quantify the damage. Over the next couple of weeks, we will be working to make sure we work with our colleagues in other States to make sure they get the assistance they desperately need before we leave at the end of the year.
More than anything else, I want to make sure the victims of this storm know they have people working for them, and we are going to make sure this great body and this Nation comes to their aid in their time of crisis.
I thank the Presiding Officer.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source