[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 105 (Tuesday, June 23, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S3041]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            HURRICANE SEASON

  Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, I am so proud of the great State of 
Louisiana. And sometimes, that is advocating for great policy, but 
other times, it is delivering a message of sympathy. And right now, I 
want to deliver a message of sympathy for people in my State.
  Today, families are assessing the damage left behind by Tropical 
Storm Arthur. People are assessing the damage left, and they are 
cleaning out flooded homes. Businesses are surveying losses. Neighbors 
are helping each other get back on their feet, giving a warm meal or a 
place to stay.
  If you are in one of these homes, you need a place to stay.
  And we are entering hurricane season, which means that people in 
Louisiana and elsewhere want to be prepared. Being prepared means to 
plan. But Mike Tyson once said: You have got a plan until a fist hits 
you in the face.
  Well, a hurricane can be a fist hitting you in the face, and the plan 
you have will go out the window when the tornado hits your home--a 
tornado spawned by the hurricane.
  The damage is always different. Tropical Storm Arthur, fortunately, 
only caused--although, don't minimize the importance of these--only 
caused two injuries that we know of, even though there were multiple 
tornadoes and six parishes under a state of emergency.
  Avoyelles Parish was at 29 inches of rain in 1 day--29 inches of rain 
in 1 day--which, hopefully, is a once-in-a-thousand-year rainfall 
event.
  So you may have a plan, but when you have more than an inch an hour 
in 24 hours, you cannot be fully prepared.
  So I want to remind colleagues that, while news cycles jump from one 
topic to another overnight, families in my State are dealing with 
serious damage to their homes and livelihoods.
  And to those of you in Louisiana, if you need help, this is what you 
can do. If you need a low-interest disaster loan to help cover the cost 
of physical and financial damage, small business owners in Louisiana 
can call the Small Business Administration at 800-659-2955.
  If you need to get connected with a Red Cross caseworker for recovery 
planning and help with finances, call 1-800-733-2767, and that line is 
open 24-7.
  If you can't reach your homeowners insurance, take a picture of the 
damage and call the Louisiana Department of Insurance at 1-800-259-
5300.
  And if you can't reach those numbers but you know you need to reach 
those numbers--for example, you need to reach the SBA, but they are not 
picking up; the Red Cross, somehow, is not connecting; the Louisiana 
Department of Insurance, ``Hey, I need somebody to pick up the phone,'' 
then you can call my office at 225-929-7711.
  In the meantime, anything I can do to bring Federal resources to bear 
on our State, I will do it. So as recovery efforts continue, I ask 
colleagues to keep these families--which we know, at some point in 
time, may be similar to a family in your State--in your thoughts.
  For them, the work of rebuilding remains.

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