[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 52 (Tuesday, March 26, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H2818-H2819]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      RECORD SNOWFALL AND FLOODING

  (Mrs. AXNE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1

[[Page H2819]]

minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. AXNE. Mr. Speaker, this past winter, Iowa and the Midwest 
experienced record snowfall with freezing temperatures. The ground has 
remained frozen, which kept the snow from melting into our soil. And 
then the rapid warming over March 12 to March 14, along with heavy 
rains, resulted in mass flooding and devastation across Iowa, 
particularly in my district of southwest Iowa.
  The flooding has resulted in hundreds of millions, if not billions, 
of dollars in agricultural losses; destroyed homes, schools, small 
businesses, medical centers; and has caused significant damage to 
public infrastructure that is vital to these communities.
  Entire small towns, such as Hamburg in Fremont County and Pacific 
Junction, shown here, in Mills County, are under water and are facing 
irreparable damage.
  Communities are without sanitary water. The lasting effects on the 
health and well-being of Iowa families is beyond calculation, and the 
flooding is still ongoing. We have yet to have seen, probably, the 
worst of it.
  I am grateful that the President declared a disaster emergency 
declaration to support efforts to guarantee public safety and rapid 
recovery, but, given the impact of this flooding--and it was mainly in 
smaller rural communities--the assistance needed to ensure these 
communities can recover is dramatic, and I have requested the House 
Appropriations Committee to fund additional disaster supplemental 
support.

                          ____________________