MIdwest Flooding

Floor Speech

MIDWEST FLOODING -- (Senate - June 16, 2008)

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I rise to offer my thoughts and prayers to the people and communities throughout the Midwest who were hurt by last week's massive floods.

It appears that the floodwaters have begun to recede. But the long, hard process of cleaning up and rebuilding lies ahead.

In particular, I offer sympathy and support to my colleagues TOM HARKIN and CHARLES GRASSLEY, the Senators from Iowa, whose governor has declared 83 of the State's 99 counties to be disaster areas.

Worst hit was the city of Cedar Rapids, IA.

Over 9 square miles--or 1,300 blocks--were flooded in the city and 25,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes. Preliminary estimates indicate over $700 million in damage. This is in Cedar Rapids alone.

In Cedar Rapids, it is being called not the flood of the century--but the flood of the half-millennium--an event that should occur only once in 500 years.

In fact, rescue workers from Minnesota have been deployed to Iowa to help the victims of the flooding there.

While the residents and businesses of Cedar Rapids were hit the hardest, they were hardly alone. Heavy rainfall last week submerged much of the Midwest--Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, and my own State of Minnesota.

Throughout the Midwest, corn and soybean fields turned into lakes. City streets turned into canals. It's like Waterworld. There is water nearly everywhere. And where there isn't water, there is mud. Lots of mud.

In terms of physical devastation, some are calling these floods ``the Katrina of the Midwest.''

Among the areas suffering flood damage was the southeastern corner of my state of Minnesota. Three major rivers in the area--the Root, the Cedar and the Zumbro--all flooded.

Four Minnesota counties were declared State disaster areas--Freeborn, Mower, Fillmore and Houston counties.

This includes areas that have already suffered extensive flood damage in the past year--both with the devastating floods in August last year as well as floods earlier this spring.

As you can see from this aerial photograph of Austin, MN, taken last week, flood, water poured across big sections of the city, flooding not just streets, but highways and freeway ramps.

This weekend, I spoke with the mayors of Austin, Rochester and Lanesboro. Later in the week, I plan to visit the area and meet with local leaders and residents. After the floods last August, I traveled to the area several times to survey the damage and work with local and State leaders to obtain Federal aid and assistance. My family and I even spent a weekend in the area.

I know these communities are strong--just as you will see with the State of Iowa, which State has been hit even harder, and they will make it through this latest disaster.

Last week's flooding resulted in the death of one Minnesota man, Dale Wangen, of rural Albert Lea. He was driving home in the dark, rainy night and suddenly his car plunged into the rushing flood waters because the road was washed away.

Emergency responders found him only because another car came along and also plunged into the water. That driver was able to get out. But he told rescuers that his car had crashed on top of another car.

Austin, MN, is home to Hormel Foods, a Fortune 500 company. They had to close their corporate offices because of the flood.

Here is a second photograph of Austin, also taken last week. You can see that it was not just a few wet basements. Some neighborhoods were flooded practically up to the treetops and had to be evacuated.

Fortunately, Austin was spared even worse damage because--ever since a major flood 30 years ago--they have been implementing a comprehensive flood mitigation plan, including the purchase of more than 250 homes in flood-prone areas.

Nonetheless, the three worst floods in Austin's history have all occurred since the year 2000--with the worst in 2004.

As one resident of Austin put it: ``It seems like we're getting a `hundred-year flood' every 3 or 4 years.''

While the most attention is given to cities and towns damaged by the floods, the countryside has not been spared, either.

Houston County, at the far southeastern tip of Minnesota, is a rural area with a total population of just 20,000. Preliminary estimates indicate that Houston County alone has suffered close to $7 million in infrastructure damage and $15 million in crop damage.

Heavy spring rains had already delayed the planting of crops. Now, there are acres and acres of young corn and soybean plants that are under water. The work that Senator Harkin has done as Chair of the Agriculture Committee is making sure that we give permanent disaster relief is so important. These floods are one example.

We will not know the full extent of the damage until the harvest this fall. But the end result could be billions of dollars in crop losses.

At a time like this, local communities should not be expected to fend for themselves. The Federal Government has an essential role to support communities as they recover and rebuild.

In these circumstances, the Federal Emergency Management Agency--FEMA--must be a lifeline to help these communities both survive and come back.

FEMA is the primary coordinator of all Federal responses to this national tragedy, from first making sure that people are safe and secure, to then making sure that those people are made whole again, to finally making sure that their infrastructure is rebuilt and made stronger, so that such disasters do not happen again. We saw this in flooding last year in Southeastern Minnesota, where whole communities were washed out. We went through these three steps so those communities are beginning to thrive again.

The Small Business Administration plays a key role in recovery activities, providing vital assistance to local businesses that have suffered economic losses.

While we did not need it, the floods provide justification for the first-ever permanent program of disaster assistance for farmers, which we just passed as part of our farm bill.

In my state of Minnesota, it has been a tough 2 years when it comes to disasters.

Last spring, we had the Ham Lake fire that burned 76,000 acres in northern Minnesota.

On August 1 last year, we had the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge in the heart of our Twin Cities metropolitan area, killing 13 people and injuring over one hundred.

Later in August, we had the devastating floods in southeastern Minnesota that cost six lives and caused tens of millions of dollars in damage.

Less than a month ago, on the Sunday evening before Memorial Day, the small community of Hugo was hit by a fierce tornado. It killed a 2-year-old boy, Nathaniel Prindle, and seriously injured his 4-year-old sister, Annika. Fifty homes were completely destroyed and another 250 were damaged.

But there is one special thing we have seen with each one of these disasters. It is the sight of people joining together to help and care for others in need. Even with all the devastation, disasters like these still bring out the very best in the human spirit. Not just neighbors helping neighbors, but strangers helping strangers.

Disasters can take away lives; they can destroy homes; and they can wipe away roads and bridges. But, in America, we won't let them take away our spirit of community.

With the appropriate State and Federal support, I am confident that the flood-damaged communities of the Midwest will thrive once again. With leaders like Senator Harkin and Senator Grassley, I am confident Iowa will thrive once again.

I think about the epic flood that occurred 11 years ago on the Red River bordering Minnesota and North Dakota.

The waters inundated downtown Grand Forks in North Dakota and East Grand Forks in Minnesota--60,000 people had to evacuate; 900 lost their homes; and 11 downtown buildings were destroyed.

But with the hard work of Senators Dorgan and Conrad and officials throughout North Dakota and Minnesota, it is amazing to visit those communities today and see how they have rebuilt and moved forward.

I hear that officials from Grand Forks have already reached out and talked with their counterparts in Cedar Rapids, IA--giving them advice on everything from legal issues to how to rebuild.

That, too, is the spirit of America. We know we will be able get through this disaster because we know we will work together and provide support to one another.

I see Senator Harkin and Senator Grassley are coming to the Senate floor. Again, we pledge from the State of Minnesota to do everything we can to help them. Their damage was so much more extensive than ours. But we know with fine leaders like these, they will help their State get through this. I know we are sending emergency workers from Minnesota at this very minute.

I yield the floor.

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