Washington State Floods

Floor Speech

WASHINGTON STATE FLOODS -- (Senate - December 05, 2007)

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from New Jersey for allowing me to speak before he does. I wish to speak today because, as we all know, in the last several days, the Pacific Northwest has been hit by devastating storms. We have seen wind and dangerous floods and mud slides that have cut off our roads, our homes, cut off power to literally thousands in my State.

Today, the pouring rain thankfully has subsided a bit, but thousands of people are coping with the damage in my State, in my region. We will not know the full impact of this storm for some time, but our Governor has already estimated that the cost is going to be in the billions of dollars.

My heart goes out to everyone in my home State of Washington and in Oregon who are coping with the aftermath of this tremendous storm. Those people are in my thoughts constantly. I am working with all of our State, local, and Federal entities to be sure everyone gets all the service and support they need at this critical time.

I especially thank and mention our Governor, Governor Gregoire of Washington State. She has been very strong in her leadership throughout this disaster and has been working tirelessly to coordinate the rescue efforts.

I especially today send a very heartfelt thanks to all of our rescue workers. They have been working out in these torrential rains, night and day, rescuing people from flooded homes and vehicles. They have been flying in supplies to people who are stranded. They have been working very hard to clear roads and railways that are still tonight swamped.

So far, the Navy, the Coast Guard, the National Guard, and all of our agencies have rescued about 300 people by helicopter alone. This is our State's largest aerial search-and-rescue operation in over a decade.

Let me paint a picture for all my colleagues of the damage that has occurred so far.

Parts of southwest Washington now look like a sea of brown water. Homes are flooded up to their roofs. Entire communities have been isolated by swamped roads. Out on our coast, winds of up to 100 miles an hour have knocked out power to literally thousands of homes. People feel very isolated today. They don't have power, they don't have telephones, and, in some areas, it is very tough to even assess how bad the damage is yet because we cannot even get to these people who do not have power or telephones.

I know a lot of relatives in the region and across the country are desperately trying this evening to reach their loved ones who have been affected, and our office, along with Governor Gregoire, Senator Cantwell, and others, is doing everything we can to help.

Finally, I wish to mention one of the hardest hit areas, and that is Interstate 5. This is the major artery that links Portland, OR, and Seattle, WA. That highway has been closed since Monday, and some are saying it is going to be several more days before we even get it open. This has forced cars and trucks that are traveling from Seattle to Portland or Portland to Seattle to detour through the Tri-Cities. For those who don't know my State, that means they have to go over a mountain pass that is snow packed right now, take 4 extra hours, if the roads are good and the snow and ice has not stopped them on the pass used to get to Portland. So this is a major nightmare in our area.

It is very hard to explain the impact of all this damage, but estimates of cost to businesses from delays on that highway alone have been placed at $4 million a day to our businesses that rely on this major artery to get their goods quickly and safely back and forth.

As I said in a speech earlier today on the floor, the impact of these storms reinforces how important our transportation infrastructure is to absolutely everyone. We are all one rainstorm, one bridge disaster away from huge impacts to our economy and to families' lives.

Again, I wished to come to the floor this evening to send my heartfelt thanks to everyone who is working so hard in my State of Washington and to all those people who have been affected so devastatingly by these storms. They are all in my thoughts every minute. My heart goes out to them, and I know everyone stands ready to be by their side.

I yield the floor.

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