[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 72 (Tuesday, May 21, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H5303-H5304]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       FLOODING IN WEST VIRGINIA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 
12, 1995, the gentleman from West Virginia [Mr. Wise] is recognized 
during morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WISE. Mr. Speaker, I want to report on the flooding in West 
Virginia over this weekend, and I particularly want to say, following 2 
days of visiting hard-hit communities, there are a lot of people to 
thank. Particularly high up there is the West Virginia National Guard, 
which once again responded and provided the semblance of order and 
peace and hope that many people needed to seize on to during these 
troubled times.
  Remember, Mr. Speaker, that this is the second time in 4 months that 
many of these communities have been hit by ravaging floods; the second 
time in 4 months.
  Mr. Speaker, I started out Friday night in the Charleston office of 
emergency services headquarters. We moved Saturday and Sunday to 
preparing. Sunday I was with Governor Caperton as we toured much of the 
flood-torn area by helicopter and touching down in a number of 
communities, and then yesterday, Mr. Speaker, I traveled by car over 
400 miles across many of the counties in central West Virginia that had 
been hit by floods.
  Let me report to you, Mr. Speaker, that once again for the second 
time in 4 months a lot of our communities are digging out, and washing 
mud out of basements and homes, are having to look at fences that were 
just replaced in many of our farm fields, now torn again or damaged 
again, are having to regroup and reorder their lives. This is actually 
the third time in 10 years for floods of this magnitude.
  I started, Mr. Speaker, in Buckhannon and Ellamore and Maibe and 
Cassity and Randolph, Jerusalem, a large town meeting in Elkins, then 
to Circleville and Big Run, Upshur and Randolph and Pendleton Counties 
on that swing, as well as other counties the day before.
  In every one of the locations people are digging out, Mr. Speaker.
  I am happy to report to you, Governor Caperton is submitting to the 
White House an application for Federal disaster assistance. This has 
moved very quickly, through a combination of the State office of 
emergency services officials, the Governor, working with FEMA, which is 
the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and, hopefully, that 
application will be acted upon today, perhaps tomorrow, and again, 
hopefully, as early as tomorrow afternoon or perhaps Thursday morning 
the declaration will be made.
  At that point, Mr. Speaker, citizens in the designated counties will 
then be able to call a toll-free number to receive firsthand 
information and assistance in working with the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency, the FEMA agency.
  At this point our staff, my staff, is out in the field distributing 
leaflets telling people what to do until that disaster assistance is 
received; telling them whom to contact in case of immediate emergency, 
the local office of emergency service officers.
  At the point the declaration of disaster assistance is made from 
Washington, we will immediately race back out to the hardest-hit 
communities with leaflets and other information outlining the toll-free 
number that people can call.
  I think that it is essential that people understand that very shortly 
the media, our office, the Governor's office, all other officials will 
be letting them know the toll-free number that they can call for 
assistance.
  So the first stop, Mr. Speaker, is digging out, and that is what the 
Red Cross is helping with. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is 
doing disaster assistance estimates right now. The local office of 
emergency service officers is assisting.
  The second step, though, Mr. Speaker, after digging out and getting 
back on their feet is what a lot of citizens asked me yesterday in 
Elkins, ``Bob Wise, why is it for the second time in 4 months we are 
having to deal with this? When will the investments be made to 
floodproof our areas to start to deal with the tributaries that are 
rising and dig out the streams that are silted up, to contain the 
stream banks in those areas where riprapping has occurred since the 
last flood?''
  We were able to contain much of the flooding. But for the hundreds of 
thousands of dollars that it costs to floodproof a stream or area, we 
would save millions of dollars not spent in having to dig people out 
and put them back in their homes. So when the budgets are up for 
consideration, my hope is that my colleagues recognize what an 
investment it is in stream bank channelization and soil bank erosion 
control and building watershed and, in some cases, building dams, 
because what this does is to prevent millions of dollars of damage 
later.
  In the case of West Virginia and other areas, what we have seen in 
just 4 months is you can have two crippling floods. So, hopefully, 
assistance is once again on the way. The disaster declaration should be 
coming within the next day or so. Individuals, businesses and units of 
government should be able to apply for Federal funds to assist them in 
getting back on their feet.
  This is a process that should not have to be occurring every 4 
months, and my hope is that very soon this Congress and others will 
recognize the importance of investing in flood control so that we do 
not have to go through this process so repeatedly.

[[Page H5304]]

  I thank very much, Mr. Speaker, those who have made it possible to 
get back on our feet as quickly as we can, whether from Governor 
Capterton directing immediate response, to the West Virginia National 
Guard, which has just been a godsend to so many of our communities over 
the last few days, to the county office of emergency services 
personnel, and the countless volunteers. Thank you very much. We all 
thank you in our communities.

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