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Floor Speech
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Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, early this morning, Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Texas as a category 1 hurricane.
Texas, and particularly Southeast Texas and the Houston area, and all up and down the gulf coast, are no stranger to hurricanes.
This one struck the Texas coast near Matagorda, with torrential rain and intense storm surge, which is very dangerous, as you know, and sustained winds of 80 miles per hour. Throughout the day, Beryl has taken its sweet time traveling the expanse of our State, bearing down on our communities in the southeast and eastern parts of the State with strong winds, a lot of rain, a lot of flooding, and even tornadoes.
More than 2.7 million Texans have lost power, and that number is expected to rise as the storm continues to move its way across the State. Sadly, at least two people have died so far, mainly due to trees falling on their homes.
I have reached out to the county judges and mayors in some of the hardest hit areas and assured them that we are monitoring the situation, but, more importantly, we are standing by, ready to do anything we can to be of assistance. And, of course, we will be working with Governor Abbott and the State officials when it comes to seeking assistance at the Federal level for disaster relief.
By tomorrow morning, the worst effects of Hurricane Beryl should be behind us, and we will have a better sense of the full extent of the damage caused by the storm. Until then, I urge all of my fellow Texans to follow the guidance of local authorities and do everything possible to stay safe.
There is an expression--``turn around; don't drown''--which cautions people not to drive into standing water in the roadway. That certainly can't be said enough. Things, stuff, is replaceable. People are not.
As always, I am incredibly thankful to the first responders who are putting their own lives on the line to support their communities and the many folks who are working with the utilities trying to get power back on line as well. In many areas, search-and-rescue operations began before the Sun even rose this morning.
So thank you to those who are on the frontlines saving lives as Hurricane Beryl bears down on our State and to the linemen, again, repairing the downed lines as quickly as possible.
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