[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 57 (Monday, May 2, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2568-S2569]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      EASTERN TENNESSEE DISASTERS

  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I have just returned from visiting east 
Tennessee where there were devastating tornadoes last week. The 
President, at the request of our entire congressional delegation, has 
declared four of our counties--Washington, Greene, Hamilton, and 
Bradley--as disaster areas, and we thank him for his prompt attention 
to that.
  I visited today northern Hamilton County, just north of Chattanooga, 
north of where the new Volkswagen plant will be located. In Tennessee 
last week 36 men and women lost their lives as a result of these 
storms. The area I visited is one of the two areas most affected, the 
other being Washington and Greene Counties, where our Governor was 
today.
  Someone asked me following my visit if anything about it shocked me. 
I said: It always shocks me when I see the consequences of a 
devastating flood or especially a massive tornado. This one had winds 
of nearly 200 miles an hour. Wherever you stand, you try to put 
yourself in the shoes of someone who might have been there when the 
tornado came through and try to imagine what it would be like. You see 
this funnel coming and know it will only interfere with your life for 
about 20 or 30 seconds; but after that, it will all be devastation. 
There is no way you cannot be shocked by it, and there is no way I can 
put myself in the shoes of those who were there.
  I saw one man who was there, Arthur Bates, 70 years old, and I saw 
his house which was completely demolished. His upright piano was 
upside-down. He told me he had killed a calf and left to take some meat 
to the preacher. He had been gone for about 5 minutes when the tornado 
hit his house.
  Not so lucky was another family not very far away. All of the members 
of that family were killed except for an 8-year-old boy who was found 
in a tree and survived.
  Not far away, several families had signs that said: The Lord was with 
us. Surely, it had to seem to them providential that there could be 
such devastation almost in their front yards and yet their homes would 
be safe.
  Ironically, today, as I went from Nashville to Chattanooga, I was 
reading about a commemoration of the floods that hit Tennessee almost 
exactly 1 year ago--on May 2, 2010. These were floods that affected 
counties from Nashville to Memphis. In Nashville alone there was $2 
billion worth of damage. People are still recovering from that flood a 
year later. Businesses have closed in some cases, but most have opened. 
The Grand Ole Opry was shut, but it was opened again. The Opryland 
Hotel is open again.
  Nashville is thriving again, and people are coming back to Nashville. 
But the commemoration today was for the large number of families in 
Tennessee who are hurting and some who are still in recovery.
  Then, if that weren't enough, in the western part of our State, along 
the Mississippi River, we have reports that the water is rising and 
will rise to levels that will be higher than at any time since the 
flood of 1937. People are already preparing shelters. Tributaries of 
the Mississippi are already rising.
  On Friday I will be going to Memphis to meet with the Army Corps of 
Engineers and local officials to make sure we are doing all we can. 
None of us in the Federal Government believe we can make anyone whole 
after a disaster like this, but we can help. As I said to those I saw 
today in Chattanooga, north of Chattanooga, there is a telephone number 
to call--2-1-1--which is a local number for help. There is a FEMA 
number to call--1-800-621-FEMA (3362). We found in the flooding of a 
year ago from Nashville to Memphis that was a big help to many 
Tennesseans. I hope the same will be true in east Tennessee and across 
our State today.
  A year ago Tennesseans distinguished themselves by not looting and 
complaining, but by cleaning up and helping one another. I saw that 
again today in Hamilton County. The sheriff told me within a few hours 
after the devastation there were 500 or so men with chainsaws out 
clearing debris and trees from the roads and from the yards helping one 
another.
  So, Mr. President, I speak today on behalf of all Members of the 
Senate in expressing to those in Tennessee our concern and our 
willingness to continue to do all we can to help.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record 
following these remarks a summary of the actions that we are taking in 
the events that are happening in Tennessee, as well as a letter from 
the congressional delegation to the President requesting disaster 
relief, which he granted promptly, and another to the general who was 
president of the Mississippi River Commission urging him to take every 
action possible to help the communities along the Mississippi River as 
water rises there.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:


[[Page S2569]]




                                Congress of the United States,

                                   Washington, DC, April 30, 2011.
     The President,
     The White House,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. President: On behalf of the State of Tennessee, we 
     respectfully request that you declare a federal disaster in 
     Bradley, Greene, Hamilton, and Washington counties as a 
     result of the severe storms, flash flooding and tornadoes 
     that struck the state beginning on April 25, 2011.
       Governor Bill Haslam has requested federal disaster 
     assistance to respond to the devastation caused throughout 
     Tennessee due to this historic tornado outbreak, and we 
     expect a separate request will be forthcoming to respond to 
     the flooding along the Mississippi River and its tributaries. 
     Flooding in many of our communities will only get worse in 
     the coming days, and the unprecedented river stages are 
     threatening the entire levee system.
       State and local officials are only beginning to be able to 
     assess the level of damage to infrastructure, private 
     property and our economy. Many of the communities affected by 
     these storms and rising flood waters are the same areas 
     devastated by the May 2010 floods. In addition to all of the 
     homes and businesses destroyed by the tornadoes, the flooding 
     along the Mississippi River is forecast to exceed the great 
     flood of 1937 in some areas, and reach the third highest 
     level on record in Memphis by May 10.
       Federal assistance is critical to help our state and local 
     governments initiate recovery efforts and to start repairing 
     infrastructure. Like so many areas throughout the Southeast 
     ravaged by these storms, our communities are overwhelmed by 
     the destruction and need federal assistance. Public and 
     Individual Assistance in Bradley, Greene, Hamilton, and 
     Washington counties will help communities with debris removal 
     and make victims eligible for a number of vital disaster 
     assistance programs. The Tennessee delegation and state and 
     local officials stand ready to work together with federal 
     officials to make sure that Tennesseans receive the help they 
     need to get back on their feet.
       Thank you for your expedited consideration of our State's 
     request, and we will provide you with more information about 
     our State's needs as information is available.
           Sincerely,
     Lamar Alexander,
       U.S. Senator.
     Bob Corker,
       U.S. Senator.
     Steve Cohen,
       Congressman.
     Marsha Blackburn,
       Congressman.
     Jim Cooper,
       Congressman.
     Chuck Fleischmann,
       Congressman.
     Stephen L. Fincher,
       Congressman.
     Diane Black,
       Congressman.
     Scott DesJarlais,
       Congressman.
     John J. Duncan, Jr.,
       Congressman.
     Phil Roe,
       Congressman.
                                  ____



                                Congress of the United States,

                                   Washington, DC, April 27, 2011.
     Maj. Gen. Michael J. Walsh,
     President, Mississippi River Commission, Vicksburg, MS.
       Dear Major General Walsh: We urgently request you take 
     every action possible to protect communities in Tennessee and 
     throughout the Mississippi River Valley from rising 
     floodwaters. The State of Tennessee has already declared a 
     State of Emergency, and if necessary, we implore you to take 
     preventative action rather than wait until it is too late to 
     act.
       The rising flood waters in the Mississippi River are 
     historical in context, threatening approximately 110 miles of 
     Tennessee riverbank. If the Mississippi River overtops or 
     breaches the levees along Tennessee's river banks, thousands 
     of people and acres of farmland are at tremendous risk of 
     flooding.
       We understand the Governor of Missouri, Jay Nixon, is 
     seeking a temporary restraining order in the U.S. District 
     Court to prevent the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 
     artificially crevassing the levee at Birds Point and using 
     the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway.
       While we understand that you are facing an extremely 
     difficult decision, we are concerned about the potential 
     devastation that could be felt by nearly 160,000 Tennesseans. 
     It is our understanding that the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals 
     in the case of Story v. Marsh, 732 F.2d 1375, 1383 (8th Cir. 
     1984), regarding the operation of the Birds Point-New Madrid 
     floodway, stated that the operation of the floodway is within 
     the discretion of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We hope 
     that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will move forward with 
     crevassing the levee, if such a decision becomes necessary.
       It is our sincere hope that there will not be a need to 
     artificially crevasse the Birds Point levee, but we urge you 
     not to delay and to take appropriate actions to protect the 
     people and property of Tennesseans that live along the 
     Mississippi River, as well as those throughout the 
     Mississippi Valley.
           Sincerely,
     Senator Lamar Alexander.
     Senator Bob Corker.
     Congressman Stephen L. Fincher.

  Mr. ALEXANDER. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________