[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 15]
[House]
[Pages 21953-21954]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                              {time}  1900

                            HURRICANE FLOYD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Aderholt). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. McIntyre) is recognized 
for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McINTYRE. Mr. Speaker, eastern and southeastern North Carolina 
have been decimated by the recent hurricanes which have come through 
our area. Thousands of homes are under water as we speak right now, or 
have been destroyed. Roads are closed. The State's agriculture industry 
has been severely hit, and our beautiful beaches have been eroded.
  Congress' help is greatly needed in order for the citizens of our 
State to begin rebuilding their lives once more. I urge my colleagues 
not to delay in working with us from the North Carolina delegation and 
our colleagues up and down the East Coast to pass a relief package.
  Let me give the Members a sense of what has happened alone in my 
district, the Seventh Congressional District of North Carolina, the 
southeastern part of our State where this terrible storm came ashore, 
Hurricane Floyd, last week when we adjourned to go and work with our 
citizens in this part of our country.
  Brunswick County has estimated damage amounts of more than $100 
million for the 200 homes along the ocean. Local landfills have been 
closed. Piers have been destroyed.
  In Columbus County, 2,300 homes have water and septic problems. There 
has been extensive damage to sweet potato and corn crops.
  In Duplin County, millions of hogs, turkeys, and chickens have been 
lost, creating severe environmental concerns. The southern area of this 
county has had several incidents of stranded persons requiring 
helicopter and boat assistance. Rescue workers have been working around 
the clock, and are experiencing danger to themselves. There have been 
reports of persons in the flood area with guns threatening others. Two 
thousand acres of the tobacco crops for our farmers have also been lost 
while still in the field.
  People's homes have become islands in all three of these counties, 
Brunswick, Columbus, and Duplin, that I have just described.
  In New Hanover County, Wilmington, North Carolina, near where the 
storm came ashore at Cape Fear near Bald Head Island, contamination of 
surface water has occurred from the heavy rainfall. The county in that 
area recommends no swimming or other bodily contact with all coastal 
and inland water areas until further notice. Residents in many areas 
have to boil or drink bottled water. There have been contaminated 
wells.
  People have been stranded in rural areas. Even Interstate 40, one of 
our premier new superhighways in eastern North Carolina, has been 
closed because of heavy flooding. Eighty feet of beach have been lost 
in areas such as Bald Head Island near Cape Fear.
  In Robeson County, my home county, and in my hometown, Lumberton, 
North Carolina, damage estimates have been at $20 million.
  Bladen and Pender Counties have suffered almost immeasurable damage 
with regard to people's homes, businesses, farms, and livestock. The 
Black River has caused extensive flooding from this terrible storm.
  Sampson and Cumberland Counties have also suffered from this vicious 
storm, especially with regard to agriculture.
  Other needs throughout this area include more than 400 roads that 
have been impassable due to flooding, nearly 600 sections of highway 
washed out, ten bridges and drainage systems destroyed, many more under 
water and not yet accessible, and 600 pipelines damaged.
  Water and sewage systems have bacteria, nitrates, and other 
pollutants that have contaminated them and many wells in the area. We 
are facing agricultural losses of more than $577 million in crops and 
$230 million in rural development needs. Forestry, 40,000 acres of 
trees have been blown down or destroyed, and 400,000 acres of our 
forest area is flooded. More than 30,000 homes have been flooded. 
Nearly 6,500 people are still in shelters.
  The problems for health include raw sewage and animal waste. We have 
found dead animals on dry land attracting diseases and attracting 
flies,

[[Page 21954]]

spreading disease. Our rivers and estuaries are facing raw and 
untreated sewage.
  Our beaches, of course, have obviously faced significant erosion, 
thus adding and complicating the problem of future damage, as this area 
alone in the last 3 years has unfortunately seen five hurricanes.
  This is a disaster of truly gargantuan proportions. The quick 
response by State and Federal emergency agencies has been tremendous. 
Once we know the full extent of the damage which we are even now 
assessing, it will be imperative that our fellow colleagues join us 
here in the U.S. Congress together to pass an emergency relief bill to 
address the devastation to our fellow American citizens, and especially 
those who have suffered such dire consequences in North Carolina.
  We need help. I reach out to my colleagues from across the Nation. I 
rushed out of here last Wednesday as the hurricane was getting ready to 
strike. As I went home and saw again the devastation that our area and 
our homeland has faced in North Carolina, we are asking for help.
  We are grateful for those who have responded personally with time and 
treasure and talent, for the help that we have seen come across the 
country, from electrical power workers to rescue workers to those in 
military positions to those who have given of their own food, and sent 
water to people who do not even have clean water to drink, much less to 
bathe in. This is a disaster that has affected everyone.
  We ask for help, we ask for common sense, and we ask for 
encouragement to help those who have suffered so much.

                          ____________________