[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 153 (Thursday, September 22, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5032-S5033]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             TYPHOON MERBOK

  Mr. SULLIVAN. Madam President, I want to talk about one of the 
strongest storms in many, many years to hit my State. It was called 
Typhoon Merbok, and it hit western Alaska late last week and into the 
weekend. It brought gale-force winds, massive flooding, and loss of 
power, water, and communications. It has wreaked havoc.
  I have just a few photos here. You see a house literally floating 
away into the ocean; whole communities completely flooded; a giant wave 
system--again, communities completely flooded in western Alaska.
  This is an area of our State dotted with dozens of small villages, 
nearly all of them, the majority, Alaska Native communities. Roughly 
about 21,000 people live in these communities in western Alaska with a 
coastline of roughly 1,300 miles. That is just one little, small part 
of my State, but that is just about as many miles of all the Florida 
coastline combined just here in western Alaska. They got hammered.
  There are very, very few roads. Alaska has over 200 communities that 
are not connected by any roads at all, and so it presents many 
challenges in terms of relief. Unfortunately, the very small number of 
roads that we have, many were washed away in these communities. The 
storm knocked out lines of communication, prompted evacuations, and 
wrenched homes from their foundations, as I mentioned, floating in the 
water.
  The preliminary assessment shows very significant damage to bridges, 
roads, water treatment plants, bulk fuel tanks, seawalls, breakwaters, 
airstrips--if you don't have a road, every one of these small 
communities has an airport, a tiny little airport--generators, 
powerplants. This was a devastating storm.
  But I am proud to say my fellow Alaskans pulled together--the Native 
communities in particular, as they do so often--to make sure that all 
residents and particularly the most vulnerable, the elderly in 
particular, were out of harm's way when this storm came pounding ashore 
in western Alaska.
  Our State and local government emergency management teams, the Alaska 
National Guard, the Coast Guard, and our first responders have also 
been working day and night to ensure that communities are safe and that 
utility services and major infrastructure are becoming operational as 
soon as possible, but it is still a real challenge.
  I will say from the Federal Government's perspective, FEMA has done a 
good job thus far--a really good job. They immediately got teams on the 
ground and are working to evaluate the damage. The head of FEMA, whom I 
spoke to shortly after the storm hit, is on her way to Alaska. The 
Secretary of Homeland Security just called me today on their focus on 
this. The Region 10 FEMA Director--which covers Alaska--is also on the 
ground there.
  Thankfully, thank God there have been no reports of death or serious 
injury, and it is in part because of the resilience of the people in 
Alaska and the preparation.
  Further, donations of food, water, clothes, and other essentials from 
businesses and nonprofits and just generous individuals throughout 
Alaska have been pouring in to this community. We are so grateful for 
all the help that has come.
  Even though most Americans are very unaware of this, this was a 
devastating storm.
  Let me talk a little bit about some of these wonderful communities 
that were hit by the storm. All of these communities--I have spent a 
lot of time in western Alaska. They are amazing people with an 
incredible generosity of spirit and thriving Alaska Native cultures. 
But these are some of the poorest communities in America--the poorest 
communities in America. Like I said, almost none of them have roads. 
Several of them do not have any water or sewer--running water or flush 
toilets. American citizens.
  You know, I get a little frustrated in this body whenever there is a 
lower 48 community that has a problem with drinking water--the latest 
in Jackson, MS, and Detroit, MI. There is all this money, and they say: 
Hey, let's fix that aging infrastructure. I get it. That is important. 
But what I always say is, why don't we fix communities like mine that 
have no infrastructure, no water and sewer, no flush toilets, no access 
to the internet, housing where multiple generations are often crammed 
together?
  And here is the thing. These are some of the most amazing people on 
the planet, and as Americans, they are some of the most patriotic 
people in the whole country. I always like to brag about Alaska, where 
there are more veterans per capita than any State in the country. But 
the Alaska Native people serve at higher rates in the U.S. military 
than any other ethnic group in America. This is what I call special 
patriotism. When you go to these small communities, everyone there is a 
veteran. It really warms your heart as an American.
  So we need to help these communities, and we are going to do that. 
The Senate is going to do that; the Federal Government is going to do 
that; and the State of Alaska is going to do that.
  I do want to make one mention of one issue that is important to me. 
It is an issue just to fairness, and I am just putting down a marker to 
make sure we have fairness as it relates to my constituents in this 
very significant storm that we need help with.
  The majority leader was here on the floor recently talking about the 
impact that Hurricane Fiona was having on Puerto Rico, and we are all 
thinking about Puerto Rico as well. We want to make sure they are all 
safe, and that is something we need to be focused on in the Federal 
Government, in the U.S. Senate.
  Now, normally, the Federal Government pays for 75 percent of the 
costs of

[[Page S5033]]

emergency medical care, disaster response, food distribution when those 
requests are made.
  Our Governor just recently declared a Federal disaster for this part 
of Alaska. The Alaska delegation sent a letter to the President urging 
him to immediately approve this Federal disaster declaration for 
Alaska. When this happens, as I mentioned, the Federal Government 
usually pays 75 percent; others are responsible back home for 25 
percent. Sometimes it is even 90 percent and 10 percent.
  As I mentioned, the majority leader recently requested, in a floor 
speech on the Senate floor--and I am fine with the speech--that the 
FEMA Federal Government pay 100 percent of the costs in Puerto Rico. 
OK. If FEMA wants to do that, if that is going to happen at the request 
of the majority leader, here is what else has to happen: Then FEMA must 
pay 100 percent of the costs in western Alaska, OK. That is a no-
brainer. One hundred percent of the costs from FEMA in Puerto Rico, 
then the great people in western Alaska are going to get 100 percent of 
the costs paid for as well.
  As a matter of fact, Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to have 
printed in the Record a letter I led with Senator Murkowski and 
Congresswoman Peltola to Administrator Criswell, the Director of FEMA, 
just making note that, hey, if you are going to do 100 percent for 
Puerto Rico, you need to make sure you are doing 100 percent for 
western Alaska. I would like to submit that for the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                Congress of the United States,

                               Washington, DC, September 22, 2022.
     Administrator Deanne Criswell,
     Federal Emergency Management Agency,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Administrator Criswell: We write to urge your 
     administrative approval of Governor Dunleavy's request to 
     waive the State's cost share for federal individual and 
     public assistance for recovery efforts in Western Alaska 
     following the onslaught of Typhoon Merbok.
       As your Region X team is aware, conditions prior to the 
     storm in impacted rural communities were already difficult. 
     Several Alaskan communities do not have running water or 
     sewer systems. Where they do exist, it is common for sewer 
     systems to be constructed above ground which further exposes 
     flooded communities to the potential release of raw sewage. 
     These communities are also experiencing high levels of 
     unemployment and poverty, and it is likely that many homes 
     are not insured against the losses experienced. Additionally. 
     the cost of providing immediate temporary housing will impede 
     the finances available for housing construction.
       Necessary cleanup efforts have begun, and Alaskan efforts 
     and spirit in the face of trials is herculean as ever. 
     However, this cost is too great to cover with currently 
     available resources.
       Preliminary assessments across more than a thousand miles 
     of Western Alaska coastline include damage to bridges and 
     roads, water treatment plants, homes, bulk fuel tanks, 
     seawalls, breakwaters, berms, airstrips, generators, and 
     power plants. On September 20. 2022, Governor Mike Dunleavy 
     requested a federal disaster declaration. We sent a letter 
     that same evening requesting the President expeditiously 
     approve that request.
       On September 19, 2022 Senator Schumer delivered a speech on 
     the Senate floor in which he stated that he spoke with you 
     and ``urge[d] that [FEMA] be ready to approve a temporary 
     100% federal cost share for all emergency protective services 
     that Puerto Rico conducts in the coming days.'' As you 
     consider requests for storm recovery funding and cost shares 
     across the nation, including for Puerto Rico in Region 2, we 
     expect you to deliver an equitable decision for Alaska.
           Sincerely,
     Lisa Murkowski,
       United States Senator.
     Dan Sullivan,
       United States Senator.
     Mary Sattler Peltola,
       Representative for All Alaska.

  Mr. SULLIVAN. So, Madam President, one of the things that I have 
always done in my job here in the U.S. Senate is, whenever there is a 
bill dealing with disaster relief, regardless of what part of the 
country it is, I always vote for it. The reason I do that is because I 
come from a State that has earthquakes, that has wildfires, that has 
typhoons, that has a lot of cold weather. We are tough in Alaska, but 
every now and then, we are going to need Federal help as well, and now 
is the time we do.
  So we are all going to work together here in the Senate, whether it 
is Puerto Rico or Kentucky or western Alaska, where there have been a 
lot of recent natural disasters. We will work together.
  I just want to make sure my constituents know: We got your back here 
in DC. We thank you for your resiliency, toughness, and everybody 
coming together. We will make sure that, whatever the results are in 
any of these other natural disasters, that Alaska is going to get the 
same result as well.
  I yield the floor.

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