[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 80 (Thursday, June 22, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5649-S5650]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             FLOOD DISASTER

  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I rise today to alert my colleagues that 
another series of national disasters have hit my home State of North 
Dakota. This newspaper headline from the largest paper in our State 
says it best with the headline on the front page, ``Swamped.'' The 
newspaper goes on to say NDSU, the State university, suffered millions 
in damage. In fact, I talked to the president of the university hours 
ago. He believes the damage is in excess of $20 million just at North 
Dakota State University. This newspaper indicated that the flood filled 
the Fargo dome where NDSU plays the football games. The dome was filled 
with over 8 feet of water.
  This monsoon that hit Fargo, ND, on the night of June 19, absolutely 
flooded the entire town. It was an incredible series of circumstances. 
This is a picture that shows cars under water. We saw this all over the 
city of Fargo. Basements are flooded. Every kind of structure is 
flooded with 2 to 3 feet of water in the streets of the city of Fargo, 
the biggest city in my State.
  We also saw massive flooding on the outskirts of town. This is the 
interstate. This is I-94 that connects Fargo to the rest of North 
Dakota. It is a major east-west highway in North Dakota. It was under 
water. Every part of town saw massive flooding. Homes and trailers are 
under water all across the city of Fargo.
  North Dakota State University is one of the two major universities in 
our State. They suffered millions in damage, with very little flood 
insurance. The president of the university told me their insurance 
carrier tells them for this kind of event they only had $10,000 of 
insurance coverage--with losses of over $20 million. Even the 
president's house was wet. The newspaper says the president of the 
university was among many people dealing with the soggy conditions 
after fighting battles throughout the night, with 2 inches of sewage 
that entered the basement of the president's house through the failure 
of the sewer system.
  This disaster was not confined to the city of Fargo, unfortunately. 
It spread throughout the area. Probably one of the great ironies is 
that until June 11 we were in a drought in much of eastern North 
Dakota. On June 12, 13, and 14, we had heavy rains in the northeastern 
part of the State.
  I was there last week with FEMA officials assessing the damage. In 
that part of the State, they received 20 inches of rain in 2 days--
absolutely Biblical. I have never seen anything like it--20 inches of 
rain in 2 days. The entire annual precipitation we receive in the State 
of North Dakota came in 2 days.
  Over 150,000 acres of prime farmland flooded in that series of 
incidents. Of course, that was followed a week later, last Monday 
night, by this devastation hitting Fargo, ND, the largest city in the 
State. The mayor of Fargo said it perhaps best: ``It's the worst rain 
flood we've ever had.''
  This is an event unparalleled in North Dakota history. There is 
something very odd going on with the weather pattern. I can only say in 
my State we have had eight Presidential disaster declarations in the 
last 7 years. We fully anticipate we will have number nine as a result 
of this series of incidents in northeastern North Dakota and then in 
southeastern North Dakota. Hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland 
were flooded. The major

[[Page S5650]]

city of my State was very badly hurt by this massive flooding.

  I have come before with requests for disaster assistance. I was very 
hopeful we weren't going to have a disaster this year. Until these 
devastating events, the worst thing happening was that we appeared to 
have a drought in part of the State. It is truly stunning to get 20 
inches of rain in 2 days.
  The damage is incalculable. In North Dakota State University, there 
wasn't a building on the campus that was not flooded. The president 
informed me today that the basement of the library was badly flooded 
where some of the archives were kept. They were in the basement because 
that is the safest place in a tornado. Fargo is a town that has 
previously been hit by tornadoes--not frequently, but on occasion. So 
the most valuable materials were stored in the basement. Then we get 
hit by these massive monsoon rains that flooded every building on that 
campus, including devastating and destroying some of the archives of 
the State.
  This is, again, a disaster of stunning proportion. Tomorrow, top 
officials of FEMA and I will be going to North Dakota, accompanied by 
top officials of the USDA, to further assess the damage. I talked to 
the Governor today. He tells me he is readying a request for disaster 
assistance. Without question, we will be coming to this body once again 
to ask for assistance for a remarkable set of what can only be 
described as almost unimaginable occurrences. It does make me wonder if 
there is something going on with global climate change that we don't 
fully understand, to have these extraordinary sets of circumstances 8 
years in a row. That is the fact. That is the circumstance that we 
face.
  I wanted to draw my colleagues' attention to it. We in North Dakota 
have expressed our thanks to our colleagues on repeated occasions for 
the assistance provided North Dakota in the face of these remarkable 
natural disasters. I regret very much standing here today again drawing 
my colleagues' attention to what has occurred in my home State. I think 
it is important for colleagues to know this has occurred, and that, 
once again, we will be asking for assistance.
  I yield the floor.

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