[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 81 (Wednesday, June 11, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S5545]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RECOGNITION OF THE ASSISTANCE OF LEO FLYNN DURING THE FLOODS OF 1997

 Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I want to take this opportunity 
today to recognize the important work of Leo Flynn in ongoing flood 
recovery efforts in the Dakotas.
  Early this year, residents of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South 
Dakota experienced relentless snowstorms and bitterly cold 
temperatures. Snowdrifts as high as buildings, roads with only one lane 
cleared, homes without heat for days, hundreds of thousands of dead 
livestock, and schools closed for a week at a time were commonplace. As 
if surviving the severe winter cold was not challenge enough, residents 
of the upper Midwest could hardly imagine the extent of damage Mother 
Nature had yet to inflict with a 500-year flood. Record levels on the 
Big Sioux River and Lake Kampeska forced over 5,000 residents of 
Watertown, SD to evacuate their homes and left over one-third of the 
city without sewer and water for 3 weeks. The city of Bruce, SD was 
completely underwater when record low temperatures turned swollen 
streams into sheets of ice. Heavy winter snows forced Big Stone Lake, 
along the South Dakota and Minnesota border, to 9 feet above flood 
level. The rising waters drove 40 families from their homes and caused 
vast amounts of damage.
  Many South Dakota communities prepared for the floods by constructing 
makeshift dikes around homes and neighborhoods. While some of these 
barriers held up against the rising water, a number of communities saw 
their defenses washed away in the record levels of flooding. The costs 
of preparing for, and ultimately cleaning up after, these natural 
disasters strained municipal budgets and threatened other flood 
recovery programs. Milbank attorney Leo Flynn came to the assistance of 
a number of counties and towns by donating $280,000 to help local 
governments cover the costs of blizzards and flooding.
  While those of us from the Midwest will never forget the destruction 
wrought by this year's floods, I have been heartened to witness 
firsthand and hear accounts of South Dakotans coming together within 
their community to protect homes, farms, and entire towns from rising 
flood waters. The selfless actions of individuals like Leo Flynn 
illustrate the resolve within South Dakotans to help our neighbors in 
times of trouble.
  Mr. President, there is much more to be done to rebuild and repair 
impacted communities. Leo Flynn illustrates how the actions of an 
individual can bring some relief to the victims of this natural 
disaster, and I ask you to join me in thanking him for his selfless 
efforts.

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