Northern Illinois Flooding

Floor Speech

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, Illinois, over the weekend, had torrential rains hit our State. They took a terrible toll on already strained water and flood control systems across Illinois. In a matter of hours, Chicago and northwestern Illinois were pounded by nearly record amounts of rainfall. An estimated 60 billion gallons of rain fell on Chicago Friday night. I was driving in. I was there. My wife was struggling to come in from Washington, and it took her all night to make it to Chicago. It led to flash flooding, a lot of evacuation, and lot of property damage.

The rain actually started Thursday night. By Friday morning, we had 6 inches of rain and flood conditions. Another intense rain began again on Friday and didn't let up until Saturday morning. In Joe Daviess County, at the northwest corner of our State, more than 12 inches fell during the course of the weekend. Roads are closed in Joe Daviess, bridges are out, and the county--along with several other counties in the region--have declared a state of disaster as they focus on cleanup and restoring basic services.

Yesterday, I talked to Mayor Larry Stebbins of Savannah and to Sheriff
Jeff Doran of Carroll County. I spoke to Randy Prasse, too, who leads the Tri County Economic Development Alliance. His group is part of the local leadership working to assess damage and restore business.

Across the north and northwestern part of Illinois, people have lost homes and businesses, many more were forced to evacuate, and hundreds of thousands lost power and safe drinking water.

The Chicago area was hit particularly hard by the Friday night rains which dumped 4 1/2 inches of rain on Chicago and up to 7 inches on the nearby towns of Westchester and Cicero. The rains flooded 43 viaducts and quickly filled all 190 miles of the Deep Tunnel system.

I would just like to say to my friends who talk about the access of our river and canal system to Lake Michigan that if we could not send that storm water out into Lake Michigan, the flooding would be dramatically worse. We have a deep tunnel that gathers as much water as we can in these rains, but it is not enough. It was overwhelmed this last weekend. So those who have a concern about the Asian carp, as I do, need to also be as concerned about the environmental impact of decisions that might be made. We are trying to put this in the context of economic reality, flood reality, and certainly the reality that none of us want to see this invasive species in Lake Michigan. But it is a complex interconnected system, and we have to look at the entire system, not some quick press release that might suggest an easy answer that may not really solve the problem but may create more.

One apartment building along the Chicago River was evacuated before 12 feet of water rolled in--12 feet--flooding the basement and cutting off electricity to a 17-story building.

The Sun came out on Sunday and, true to form, Illinoisans began digging out and cleaning up. The damage from these floods led Governor Pat Quinn to declare a State disaster in 12 counties--Carroll, Cook, DuPage, Henders, Joe Daviess, Lee, Mercer, Ogle, Rock Island, Stephenson, Whiteside, and Winnebago. As the water begins to recede, the recovery and damage assessment has just begun. Communities such as Savannah, Westchester, Cicero, Melrose Park, and others suffered substantial damage. But anyone who suffered damage during this flood faces a long difficult process to recover. Some homes will need to be rebuilt in some parts of our State, mold and waste removed, possessions replaced or repaired, highways, bridges and other necessary infrastructure restored, and businesses reopened.

Already cash-strapped, many of the affected communities are struggling to figure out how they will manage the cleanup, repair the roads, restore the bridges, and help the residents recover. I spoke last night with John Blum, the County Board Chair for Stephenson County, Congressman Manzullo, and other leaders in the region. We also talked to Marvin Shultz, Joe Daviess County board chair, and Rodney Fritz, the Carroll County board chair. They are hurting, but they are determined. They are working around the cloak to restore services and get their communities back to work.

As the State and Governor continue to assess damages and options for recovery assistance, I am standing ready, I am sure, with my colleague, Senator Burris, to help Illinois residents impacted by this flood. I look forward to working with the Governor to explore any Federal assistance for which the State and communities may be eligible.

Mr. President, I might say, we were recently asked by the States of Tennessee and Rhode Island to deal with their horrible flooding conditions, and we did, no questions asked. In this body, we stand as a family for our Nation. If one part of our Nation is struggling with a disaster, we stand together to help. No questions asked about Democrats and Republicans, no questions asked about are we going to raise a tax to do it. Let's help these people in trouble right now. I hope once the assessment is made we don't have to come here and ask for that assistance for Illinois. But if we do, I will do it with the knowledge that I have stood with other communities and other States when they have faced similar circumstances, and this Senate and this government have responded when needed.

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