[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 29 (Monday, March 10, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2053-S2054]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      FLOOD-RAVAGED SOUTHERN OHIO

  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I just returned from spending 3 days in 
flood-ravaged southern Ohio. I had the opportunity to visit with some 
of the victims in Clermont County, Adams County, Brown County, Scioto 
County, Jackson County, Lawrence, Gallia, and Meigs counties. When you 
see the damage up close, it is even more terrifying than it is when you 
see it on the nightly news, or see it on CNN.
  As I visited with the victims, I saw something that was very 
heartening. I saw something that simply makes you feel good. It 
certainly made me feel good. That was the number of people who were 
pulling together in a spirit of community, reaching out to each other 
to reassure each other, to help each other, to be with their friends, 
to be with their neighbors. I can't tell you how many different times I 
saw people who were volunteering to help someone else.
  I walked into one home and talked to a woman. I said, ``How did your 
home get cleaned up?'' She was an elderly lady. She said, ``I had 30 
people come in here, 30 of my friends. They came in. They cleaned it 
up.'' They cleaned it up in a very short period of time.
  This weekend I visited Jackson, OH, in Jackson County. We were 
walking down a street that had been very heavily damaged. The homes had 
been heavily damaged by flood water. We came across what looked like 
30, 40, or 45 Boy Scouts in Boy Scout uniforms. I asked the leader what 
they were doing. He said, ``Well, we were supposed to be camping out 
this weekend.'' These were scouts from four, five, or six different 
counties. ``But we decided to come in here to Jackson.'' And they 
literally just started volunteering to clean up people's homes.
  So I watched these Boy Scouts for a while as they went about their 
business moving the debris from that street, going into people's homes 
and helping them scrub down their floors and get the mud out. It was 
absolutely an unbelievable thing to see.
  That same day I saw the same spirit in New Boston. The Jaycee group 
was in New Boston. Again, as I was walking down the street and talking 
to some of the victims of the flood, I saw a bunch of Jaycees. They 
were out doing the same thing. They were drawn from all over the State 
of Ohio. They just volunteered to come in that day and were doing that 
type of cleanup work.
  On Sunday morning, yesterday morning, I participated in a church 
service in the village of Vinton, OH, a small village in Gallia County. 
Just about every family in that church had experienced some devastation 
from the flood. Yet, I heard words of hope from the pulpit. I heard 
words of hope from the members of the congregation.
  Frankly, Mr. President, I was reminded of what I saw in Xenia, OH, in 
1974 when Xenia went through that tornado. Then, several days later, 
people still went to Sunday church services. There were people who 
said, ``Why in the world do they do that?'' Again, it was, I think, a 
reaffirmation of faith,

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people's devotion to each other, devotion to God, and really a showing 
of spirit of coming together.
  The Ohio National Guard has done a fantastic job. The Watercraft 
Division of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources literally came in 
and saved life after life--rescued people from the top of homes. The 
Ohio Department of Transportation is doing a phenomenal job, the Red 
Cross. I could go on and on. An absolutely tremendous amount of work is 
being done in the communities to really make a difference in the 
communities.
  My wife, Fran, had the opportunity to work in Ohio several days last 
week. She worked with the Salvation Army. She worked with the Red Cross 
and is working with one group of Southern Baptists who are all geared 
up whenever there is a disaster. They come from all over the State of 
Ohio and from other States into an area and cook and prepare food for 
people. They really made a difference. She was very inspired by what 
she saw them doing. And as she has told me about it, I have certainly 
been inspired as well.
  So these are just a few examples of what we are seeing in the State 
of Ohio. We are seeing people who are out there making a difference, 
people who are working with their neighbors, and people are just 
hanging in there.
  I happened to talk to one man in New Boston. His home was flooded in 
a very quick flash flood. He literally had to knock a hole in the 
ceiling. As the water was rising inside his house, he had to knock a 
hole in the ceiling and put his four little children up into the attic. 
He and his wife then crawled up into the attic. He knocked a hole in 
the roof, and they were rescued from the top of their house. Yet, when 
I came across this man, the mayor of New Boston told me that he had 
been one of the chief volunteers over the last few days. This man who 
had lost virtually everything in his home, who went through that 
unbelievable experience, was out leading the cleanup, volunteering for 
other people. So that is the type of thing we see.
  Let me also compliment the FEMA personnel who are on the scene. These 
are good folks who are out doing their job every day and who are really 
making a difference.
  So the report from Ohio, Mr. President, is that there is a tremendous 
amount of damage. We think it is $150 million, maybe $200 million. We 
really will not know until the entire flood has receded and we see what 
damage has been done. But the good news is people are fighting back. 
Human spirit is strong and people are helping each other. Again, I 
think that is the good news that I have to report for the last 3 days I 
spent in the State of Ohio.
  Mr. President, I will at this point yield the floor and yield back my 
time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. It is the Presiding Officer's understanding 
that the Senator from Nebraska, as designee for the Senator from 
Wyoming, is allowed to speak for up to 30 minutes.
  Mr. HAGEL. I thank the Chair.

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