Ohio Flooding

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
SENATE
Sept. 23, 2004

OHIO FLOODING

Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I want to also add that while there is a great deal of misery and suffering going on in Haiti right now because of the flooding, my home State of Ohio is also hurting. Several large regions of our State-the southern part, the eastern part-have also been very hard hit.

At least seven people we know of have died as a result of flooding since August. The hurricane has hit Ohio and has caused quite a toll. I will be traveling in some of that region in Ohio tomorrow to take a look myself. My representative Karen Sloan has been on the scene. She represents me out of my Marietta office, but she has been traveling throughout that region for a number of days and has been reporting back to me daily.

The people on the ground have been doing a great job, a courageous job. I congratulate them. It is going to take a lot of time to get things back up and running in a number of communities that have been hardest hit. I commend Governor Taft. I commend the Ohio Emergency Management Agency. I commend the men and women of the Ohio National Guard. I also commend the local officials who have worked so tirelessly, but also the countless volunteers and organizations who have worked to try to help the people who have been put out of their homes, people who have lost property, and people who have lost their loved ones. I congratulate them and thank them for the great work they have done. A lot of work still remains to be done in Ohio, as I know there does in many other States as well.