[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 123 (Tuesday, September 21, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H8446]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1915
                            HURRICANE FLOYD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Aderholt). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price) is recognized for 
5 minutes.
  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, one aspect of this that is 
going to confront us in the weeks ahead is the environmental disaster 
that this represents. When we were in the helicopter flying down to 
Tarboro where the President spoke and where we met with community 
leaders and people who have been displaced by this disaster, we went to 
a shelter where people were talking about how difficult it was. They 
are, of course, happy to be alive; but it is tough in those shelters. 
The kids get restless. The situation is uncertain. People have no home 
to go back to in many cases.
  But going down there, looking from the air, the unholy stew of hog 
waste overflows and municipal systems being overflown and storage 
tanks, gasoline storage tanks being uprooted, spilling, it is an awful 
environmental disaster. The people cannot drink this water. People 
cannot, of course, have any drainage or any sewage systems.
  So it is a disaster that is going to be with us for a long time to 
come. The cleanup is going to take a long time. It is going to be very 
expensive. We are going to need our colleagues here to help us with 
disaster assistance. As this agricultural aid goes through, this very 
definitely needs to be a part of it.
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield, this 
photograph here I think is one of the photographs taken in eastern 
North Carolina. The gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton) is 
here with us, and she was with us yesterday as we went down to Tarboro. 
I went back today and visited Wilson, parts of Wilson, and into Rocky 
Mount again and Smithfield.
  But in Tarboro yesterday, it was heartening to see people's courage, 
but it was also heart wrenching to see what they had gone through, the 
whole town of Smithfield, Tarboro with no water, no sewer, no telling 
when it will be back up because water has not yet gone down.
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. 
Price) will yield to me, I agree and thank my colleagues for coming to 
the floor, and I just thank my colleagues for what they are doing so 
often.
  I also visited Wilson today and visited Halifax. I have a map of the 
301 that at least a home of 5,000 feet could get in. The railroad was 
having to be rerouted. The water for schools. I saw at least 50 homes 
destroyed. I am just coming back from Wayne County where the water has 
not crested yet.
  They are wondering how much they are going to release from the Neuse 
on Wednesday. They are fearful that the water is going to crest 
tomorrow. If it released 6,000 cubic feet of water, that goes where? It 
goes to Wayne County. So we want our colleagues to understand this.
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, on the news this morning in Goldsboro, I 
heard this morning on the news along that point, 14 feet flood stage. 
The Neuse was supposed to crest today without any release of water 
right at 30 feet, more than twice flood stage. Water is everywhere. I 
agree.
  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, people 
talk about 100-year flood. In some areas, this is a 500-year flood. 
There are areas flooded now that in no one's memory have ever been 
flooded before. It is unbelievable the extent of devastation, far 
beyond what could have reasonably been predicted.
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, I want to just share with my colleagues, 
the word came from Greenville today that it had to cut all the water 
off. There are about 65,000 people that pump there; they were going to 
lose their utilities. Again, they have not crested. They expect to 
crest tonight.
  What it reaffirms is that we are so interdependent on each other. 
Someone always lives downstream from somewhere else. So those who are 
living downstream are beginning to see the manifestation of what it 
means to have the water come.
  There are just thousands of people who are in shelters in Halifax. In 
fact, there are about 6,000 in Pitt County, about 5,000 in Edgecombe 
County. I visited today in Wilson, as the gentleman did. Some of the 
people in Wilson are actually taking people from Greene county as well 
as Pitt. We find neighbors helping neighbors.
  We want to convey to our colleagues we need that same sense of 
compassion and generosity. By the way, this flood goes all the way to 
New Jersey.

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