[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 148 (Wednesday, September 17, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S8898]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             HURRICANE IKE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the impact of Hurricane Ike, as we all 
know, devastated part of the United States, including my State of 
Kentucky. This past Sunday, 70-mile-per-hour winds blew through the 
State, leaving thousands of people with damaged or destroyed property.
  I could give my own personal observation about it. My wife and I were 
out at lunch Sunday when the storm came through. There were very high 
winds, as I indicated--70-mile-an-hour winds--which we are certainly 
not accustomed to in Louisville, KY. We drove home and saw that one way 
into our house was blocked because a tree in our own yard had fallen 
across the road. We took another route around to try to get into the 
back of the house, and another tree had fallen across the road. That 
was replicated across Louisville, KY. The power in my own house is 
still out--to personalize it--as it is in a huge number of houses in 
Louisville and northern Kentucky, which is across from Cincinnati. This 
had a severe impact on a lot of people. The good news is that the 
hospitals and major facilities do have power.
  As many as 170,000 homes are still without power. And schools in 
several counties remain closed today as the cleanup continues.
  State and local officials are working as hard as they can to survey 
the destruction and get help to anyone who needs it.
  I expect the State will soon ask the Federal Government for disaster 
assistance, which I will strongly support.

                          ____________________