[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 90 (Wednesday, June 22, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3990-S3991]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         NORTH DAKOTA FLOODING

  Mr. CONRAD. Madam President, the city of Minot, ND, in my home state, 
is facing a dire emergency. Minot and other communities on the Souris 
River in my home State are facing a flood of epic proportion. We have a 
wall of water heading toward the city. I am told the sirens have just 
sounded in that town alerting people to evacuate.
  This is the headline this morning from that town's major newspaper. 
The headline reads: ``Projection: Devastation. Minot residents evacuate 
as historic rise in the Souris River approaches.''
  This flood is a result of overly wet conditions for an extended 
period of time, a record snowmelt, combined with record rainfall in the 
basin above the city. We are now told that perhaps a third of the city 
will be underwater, and unprecedented rains have filled upstream 
reservoirs to capacity, leading to a dramatic change in the forecast in 
48 hours.
  On Saturday, we were told we could expect the river level to reach 
elevation 1,555 feet in the city. On Monday, we were told 1,566 feet--
an 11-foot increase in 48 hours. The result is the defenses that have 
been built up over an extended period of time, that gave us about 3 
feet of freeboard, are absolutely incapable of dealing with a flood of 
this magnitude and a rise happening this rapidly.
  This is the headline from yesterday in the Minot Daily News, which 
kind of summed it all up: `` `It's a sad day.' Crest could be 10 feet 
higher than June 1.''
  It is staggering to understand what is happening here. There are four 
reservoirs above the city of Minot, all of them filled to capacity. In 
fact, we have been told the floodgates of the major reservoir in Canada 
are wide open. They cannot control the flow of water. Whatever comes in 
is going out because they have lost the ability to meter out the water 
more slowly.
  This is what we are seeing happen all over Minot as crews rush in to 
try and provide secondary defenses, to protect as much of the city's 
critical infrastructure as possible--schools, water treatment 
facilities, other critical infrastructure--that is going to be 
necessary to be able to continue to fight this flood menace.
  This was the headline in the Bismarck Tribune: ``Crisis to the North. 
Souris Floods Force 11,000 Residents From Minot.'' It is a town of 
40,000. So when you have 11,000 people forced to flee, that has a 
devastating impact.
  This is the headline, again, from the Minot Daily News of June 20, on 
Monday: ``Water Woes Continue. People in danger zones advised to be 
prepared to evacuate.'' And as I have said, that evacuation is 
occurring as I speak.
  The Fargo Forum, which is the biggest newspaper in our State, had 
this headline: ``11,000 Forced Out. Rising Souris moves up evacuation 
time. Residents in heart of city work fast to save what they can.''
  My own cousin and her family have a home that is in danger. They have 
moved everything from the basement to the first floor. Now they say 
they will have 7 feet of water on the first floor of their house. This 
is happening to people throughout the Minot community.
  These pictures that ran in the newspapers tell the story in a 
powerful and clear way. What we have is somebody trying to go into a 
neighborhood. You can see there is a police vehicle, because they are 
under mandatory evacuation. This person tried to get over to perhaps 
rescue a pet or take care of some last-minute business; maybe turn off 
the gas. And there he is, stuck in the water, as these floodwaters 
rise, and rise very rapidly.
  This picture also gives a perspective on what we are confronting. 
Here is the dike, levee, that has just been raised, and you can see 
there is maybe 2 or 3 feet of freeboard there. But what is coming is 10 
more feet of water, so there is absolutely no way these dikes can 
possibly hold. There is no way they can protect the city. These dikes 
are going to overtop, and thousands of residents will be displaced.
  This picture shows another shot. In this place, they didn't have the 
dikes covered by plastic. You can see a couple of feet of freeboard 
there. All these houses are at risk as this wall of water comes our 
way.
  This is another shot showing a house, and you can see they have the 
main dike and they have also built a secondary dike to protect their 
home. All these efforts will prove to be for naught because of this 
unprecedented wall of water. In fact, this is five feet higher than in 
all of recorded history. That is what is happening to this community of 
Minot, ND--home to 40,000 people, home to one of the major Air Force 
bases of the United States, home of the Minuteman missiles, and home of 
the B-52 bombers. Minot, ND, the fourth largest city in my State, is 
about to experience the greatest devastation in the history of the 
town--a flood worse than the 1969 flood by many feet, and that flood 
was a modern-day record to that point, the 1969 flood.
  This chart shows the evacuation zones. This gives you some sense of 
how major the relocation of people is out of this city. These are the 
evacuation zones 1 through 8 that go right on the edge of the river, 
and you can see all of these people under mandatory evacuation.
  They are going to have to leave, and they are going to have to leave 
very quickly.
  Madam President, I would like to end as I began, by showing the 
headline this morning in the Minot Daily News. ``Projection: 
Devastation.''
  There is no way around it. There is absolutely no way to respond when 
the flood forecast changes this rapidly and the water is coming this 
quickly. The result is these people are going to face high water not 
for just a day or two. Typically in a flood, the water comes and the 
water goes. In this circumstance, the water is coming and it is not 
leaving anytime soon. They have told us as recently as yesterday that 
we could expect high water until the middle of July. Can you imagine, 
to have your house under water from late June to the middle of July, 
the devastation that will result.
  So this headline, ``Projection: Devastation,'' says it very well. 
That is what we are faced with in this community.
  The bottom line is, we are going to need help. And we are certainly 
getting it. We deeply appreciate the efforts of the Corps of Engineers, 
FEMA, and all of the other Federal agencies that are helping. The 
National Guard, certainly hundreds of troops there are doing a 
fantastic job of patrolling these dikes, of helping people move, of 
making certain that people get out of harm's way because job number 1 
is protecting people's lives. We also have an obligation to do 
everything we can to protect as much of the property as is humanly 
possible. We very much appreciate the assistance the Red Cross is 
giving.
  I just met with General Kowalski of the U.S. Air Force, a three-star 
general who has as part of his command the Minot Air Force Base. I 
called the Secretary of the Air Force yesterday and the Chief of Staff 
of the Air Force the day before and asked them to be alert to the need 
for that base to help us because there is so much they can provide in 
assistance, being out of harm's way. The base is 12 miles north of the 
town.
  General Kowalski came to me this morning to deliver the message that 
the U.S. Air Force is prepared to help in every way possible. We deeply 
appreciate that commitment and that support. We remember very well in 
1997, when we had record floods in Grand Forks, ND--that is home to one 
of the other major Air Force bases of the United States--the 
extraordinary support and help they provided to us at that time.
  The final board I will show is the headline from the Minot Daily News 
of June 21: ``It's a sad day.'' It is indeed a sad day. But the people 
of North Dakota are tough, they are resilient, and they are going to 
come back. I have every confidence that we will rebuild this town. It 
will be a tough slog, but the people of North Dakota are equal to it, 
and we deeply appreciate the help we are getting from people all across 
America.
  I have seen America at its best in a time of crisis. When people are 
down,

[[Page S3991]]

when they are hurt, when they are devastated by natural disaster, the 
people of the United States rally and help out.
  That is the ethic of my State. When a farmer gets sick and can't 
harvest his crop, the neighbors pitch in. When a barn burns down, the 
neighbors pitch in. That is the best of community spirit. That is the 
best of America. We are going to be relying on that generosity of 
spirit in the days ahead.
  Madam President, I yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the quorum 
call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The Senator from Washington.

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