[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 87 (Tuesday, June 2, 2015)]
[House]
[Page H3647]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE RAINS OF MAY
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the rains came down and the floods
came up. And although Texas did not receive Noah's 40 days and 40
nights of rain, the recent 10 days of rain were of Biblical
proportions.
The whole State received the incessant rain. And about the time we
thought it was all over on Saturday morning, it all happened again
Saturday night, flooding many of the same homes and communities
throughout the State.
In Houston, six, so far, have died. Statewide, there are now 24
deaths. Eleven are still missing in Hays County when the Blanco River
rose so fast at night it trapped people in over 200 resort homes that
were on the river--homes that eventually washed away. Many of Texas'
rivers--the Trinity, the Colorado, the Brazos, and the San Jacinto--
rose at rapid record rates and are still out of their banks.
Weather experts, Mr. Speaker, said so much rain fell in Texas in May
that it was enough moisture to cover the entire State in 8 inches of
water. That is a lot of rain. Seventy counties have been designated
disaster areas. But the rainbow news, Mr. Speaker, is that many, many
voluntarily helped their neighbors and strangers survive the troubled
waters of the floods.
Here is just one example. The hard rain in Dallas flooded the Trinity
River. Dallas is in north Texas. The Trinity River flows south down to
southeast Texas near Houston, and the added rain in southeast Texas had
the Trinity River the size of the Mississippi River.
As the river rose in southeast Texas, a herd of cattle were trapped
in the middle of the river on high ground. This high ground was
eventually going to be overcome with water and the cattle would be
washed out to sea. The river at this point is between the two small
towns of Liberty and Dayton, about 6 miles apart, separated by U.S.
highway 90.
So Sunday, in a scene reminiscent of the 1800s roundups, cowboys
mounted airboats--yes, airboats, Mr. Speaker--to force the hundreds of
cattle into the river and have them swim to safer ground. The only area
that had high ground was U.S. highway 90. The highway was above the
water, even though water was on both sides of the highway.
The roundup took several hours because, Mr. Speaker, cattle are
hardheaded. They did not want to leave the high ground and swim to a
highway. So it took several hours to do this. Even the cowboys were
lassoing calves and tying them to the airboat so they wouldn't drown.
Finally, after many hours, all the cattle were forced up on U.S.
highway 90 between Liberty and Dayton, Texas.
Now, what do you do with them? Well, the cowboys, now on horses,
along with citizens and other volunteers, herded the cattle down U.S.
highway 90 to Dayton, Texas, through Main Street of Dayton, Texas. The
citizens came out with their kids to see the cattle drive through
Dayton, Texas, and they moved these several hundred of cattle to a rail
yard where they will be kept, that is the highest area in the county,
until the flood waters finally are diminished.
Of course, local businesses helped out: a local store, Casa Don Boni
in Liberty; and, of course, the Sonic, always present in Dayton,
supported the volunteers with food and drinks; and other businesses as
well helped. This is an example of how, during a troubled time, tough
times, Texans are helping each other survive this catastrophic
flooding.
So, now, Mr. Speaker, that the rains that came down and the flood
that came up have subsided and the earth has returned to its dry land,
our prayers go out to the ones who lost family, friends, and property.
God bless every one of them. And we also give grateful thanks to those
that helped each other during the floods of May.
And that is just the way it is.
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