[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 45 (Wednesday, April 16, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3245-S3246]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 NORTH DAKOTA--THE IMPACT OF BLIZZARD HANNAH ON UTILITIES AND ELECTRIC 
                               CUSTOMERS

  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I rise to give my third report on the 
disaster

[[Page S3246]]

that is still developing in North Dakota after the most severe winter 
storm in 50 years on top of the most heavy snowfall of any winter in 
our history on top of the worst flooding in 150 years. Last night, late 
yesterday, we had a serious situation develop because the main dike 
protecting Fargo, ND, which is the largest city in my State, sprang a 
leak. I talked last night to both the mayor and the head of the Corps 
of Engineers for our area, Colonel Wonzik. They told me they intended 
to build a second dike inside of the main dike to contain any burst 
that might occur.
  I am pleased to report this morning that that effort is well underway 
and that the leaking has been contained at this point. But all of us 
understand that this is an extraordinary situation. These dikes are 
expected to stand up for much longer than would usually be the case 
because the flood conditions are so unusual. We have now been told that 
the crest may last for as long as a week, and that puts enormous 
pressure, not only on the dikes that were constructed by the Corps of 
Engineers, but on the dikes that were constructed by literally hundreds 
of individual homeowners who, in some cases, built walls of sandbags 15 
feet high to protect their homes and neighborhoods.
  I brought with me today some photographs that show the extent of the 
damage that has been done by this extraordinary storm. This first chart 
shows power lines. I do not know if people are able to see it, but it 
shows about 3 inches of ice that line the power line. Of course, what 
has happened is first we had a massive ice storm and then 70-mile-an-
hour winds. The result was the power poles came down. They snapped like 
they were toothpicks. It is really extraordinary.
  I drove into one town, and coming from the north side there was power 
pole after power pole just snapped off. This is a condition that led to 
over 80,000 people being without power. Thankfully, most of those 
people's power is now restored, although power for some still is not, 
and this is from a week ago Saturday. Can you imagine being without 
power for that extended period of time when conditions outside were, at 
their worst, 40 below wind chill and no heat? We have reports of one 
fellow who started burning fence posts in his house to keep warm. 
Others who were using propane heaters, putting them in one room and the 
family gathering around the propane heater in order to keep warm.
  This picture shows a string of power poles, all knocked down by these 
extraordinary conditions. Let me just say, if I can, that there has 
been an extraordinary response. We want to say thank you to the power 
companies that supply North Dakota for flying in extra crews from 
around the country to help out. I want to take this moment to 
especially thank our neighbors to the north, because the Governor 
informed me last Monday that we were faced with a situation in which 
Manitoba Hydro wanted to send in crews to help us restore power lines, 
but they were being held up at the border by the Immigration and 
Naturalization Service. We called them and they immediately gave us a 
2-week waiver on all of their requirements at the border, and Manitoba 
Hydro sent in over 100 people, crews, to help rebuild power lines in 
North Dakota--I think just an extraordinary act of neighborliness by 
our neighbors to the north in Canada. We deeply appreciate their 
action.
  This shows the conditions and the power of this storm. You see this 
picture shows this power pole just snapped, again, like a toothpick. It 
is absolutely shattered by the force of these ice storms followed by 
extraordinarily high winds.
  This photo shows the difficult conditions that the workers had to 
contend with in trying to rebuild these lines. Again, 80,000 people 
without power, most of them for 4 or 5 days. Here they are, working in 
these very difficult conditions, trying to rebuild lines.
  This photo shows, on a farmstead, the kind of heavy equipment that 
was needed just to get an opening to get through to where the power 
poles were down. We had in parts of our State 24 inches of snow in this 
last storm. The people at the University of North Dakota tell me this 
was the most powerful winter storm in 50 years, and in North Dakota we 
have had some powerful winter storms. This year alone we have had eight 
blizzards and six winter storms that put over 100 inches of snow on the 
ground before this storm. And this storm, of course, was extraordinary 
by anyone's measure.
  This picture shows, again, the extraordinarily difficult conditions 
the workmen were facing trying to rebuild lines. Jobs that would 
normally take 2 or 3 hours were taking 10 to 12 hours in order to 
rebuild these facilities and get power back to people so they could 
have heat.
  Can you imagine being without power? We have all gotten so used to 
having electricity that I think we sometimes forget how  important and 
central it is to our lives. Just heat alone in our part of the country 
is absolutely critical. Can you imagine being without any heat in your 
home for a week when it is extremely cold outside? And not having 
electricity for any of the conveniences of modern life? This is what 
these people have been contending with.

  I must say, we have seen really heroic actions. I remember being in 
one town and the mayor described how one of the underground tunnels 
that carried water was blocked. They called in the fire department that 
had a man who was a diver. They asked him--remember, this is 40-below 
wind chill--they asked him to dive down in 6 or 7 feet of water to open 
up that valve so the water could flow. That takes courage. That young 
fellow did not hesitate. He went down and unblocked that line that 
otherwise would have led to far greater flooding. These kinds of heroic 
efforts have been repeated over and over.
  We have had Coast Guard crews in North Dakota. Some people must be 
wondering, Coast Guard in North Dakota? North Dakota is landlocked. Why 
would we be having Coast Guard crews in a State like North Dakota?
  Very simply, those Coast Guard crews have background and experience 
and training in water rescue. They can tell some harrowing tales of 
going out and rescuing people who were in automobiles or were in homes 
that were surrounded by water. One of the things members of these 
rescue crews said to me is: Senator, we have never worked in a 
situation in which we were blocked by ice. We are used to dealing with 
water, but we are not used to dealing with ice on top of the water and 
having to break through ice in order to get through to people to save 
them.
  Obviously, not all of the stories have had happy endings. We had a 
terrible tragedy of a young woman and her 3-year-old daughter who were 
in a car that went off the road. Water filled it. They were able to 
escape somehow and then tried to walk to a home that they knew about 
that was out in the country, a farmstead. Unfortunately, the rivers in 
this part of the State wind in a very unpredictable way and what they 
encountered, as they were walking in the bitterly cold weather, soaking 
wet, was, once again, the river. That young woman and her child died in 
a field south of Fargo, ND.
  There are many other stories, tragic stories, and stories of 
extraordinary heroism, where people were able to make a difference in 
saving lives and saving property.
  I will just conclude by saying I hope we move the disaster 
supplemental bill with dispatch. I hope we move that legislation in a 
way that will provide sufficient funding to be able to manage this 
latest crisis.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida is recognized for up 
to 30 minutes.

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