[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 21958]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                            HURRICANE FLOYD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Sisisky) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SISISKY. Mr. Speaker, I commend my friend, Congresswoman Clayton, 
for taking time to discuss these terrible floods.
  I saw her on television with the President when they visited some of 
the devastated areas in North Carolina.
  Late last week, I visited southeast Virginia with our Governor, where 
we witnessed identical devastation.
  I have to confess, I've never seen anything like it. To be faced with 
back-to-back drought and flood is simply overwhelming.
  But our job is to see that these rural areas, communities, families, 
and businesses are not overwhelmed.
  That is going to be a very big job.
  Most of the rivers in and along my district are either right at flood 
stage or significantly over.
  The upper Nottaway River was just below flood stage at Rawlings.
  But by the time it got to the town of Stony Creek, 25 miles away, it 
was twelve feet above flood stage.
  West of Petersburg, in Matoaca, the Appomattox was holding steady 
right at flood stage.
  The Meherrin River was right at flood stage in Lawrenceville, but 
over two feet above flood stage by the time it got to Emporia.
  I think most of you have seen news reports from Franklin, in the 
center of my district, where the Blackwater River crested about sixteen 
feet over flood stage and left most of the city completely under water.
  And the effects of this flood have hurt communities like Portsmouth 
in ways that defy description.
  Thankfully, the water is back on, and the same goes for communities 
in the Petersburg area.
  With all this flood water spilling into water treatment facilities, 
not only were we warned to boil water, Portsmouth was warned to not 
drink the water even if it was boiled.
  I think all of you know, it's one thing to lose electricity. That's 
bad enough.
  But it's a whole different animal to lose your water over an extended 
period of time.
  And in addition to electricity and water, we lost many major 
highways. Well over two hundred roads, along with interstates, were 
closed across southside Virginia.
  And they stayed that way over the weekend as we waited for rivers and 
streams to crest, and then subside, so crews could remove debris.
  Interstates 64 and 95 were closed, preventing travel to Hampton Roads 
and North Carolina.
  The major highway across my district, U.S. 460, was under several 
feet of water in several locations.
  Interstate 264 was open around Portsmouth, but with some ramps closed 
due to flood water.
  Even highways that are open, like U.S. Routes 13 and 17, were closed 
at the Carolina border.
  And in counties and communities where you can at least get around: 
Suffolk, Surry, Sussex, Southampton and Greensville, traffic was 
limited so cleanup crews could get in to make essential repairs.
  Many streets in Chesapeake are still flooded.
  I'm not going to belabor this any more--but as of today, the Internet 
list of closed roads is five pages long.
  On top of that, we've got phone systems out and simply can't always 
call, even to check on loved ones.
  That brings me to one thing I've got to say: Thank you and God bless 
all the emergency workers, from the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
folks and other Federal employees, to the State agencies, especially 
the National Guard--from the logistics operations to the helicopter 
pilots, and the VA Department of Transportation, to the local sheriffs 
and police and fire departments and rescue squads.
  And I would also be remiss not to mention Red Cross and the hundreds 
of volunteers working with them and similar organizations.
  I'm afraid we sometimes take these people for granted, but I doubt 
that anyone in Southside or North Carolina will ever make that mistake 
again.
  Mr. Speaker, if the rain ever stops, we'll need to think about the 
future.
  Drying out and restoring homes and communities will take time and a 
lot of hard work.
  If the Federal, State and local partnership we've seen in the face of 
this emergency continues over the long term, we'll be in good shape.
  One thing we need to do is make sure that in addition to the 
families, homeowners and businesses in our cities and towns, we 
remember the devastation this inflicts on rural areas and farmers and 
agribusiness.
  It is my understanding that a Presidential Disaster Declaration 
carries far more weight than a Secretarial Declaration.
  And I'm talking USDA, not FEMA.
  I have already contacted the White House to request that areas 
affected by these floods receive all Federal assistance possible.
  If that means we need a full-scale Presidential Disaster Declaration 
from USDA, that's what I want.
  After the President went down there yesterday, I'm sure they would 
have done that anyway.
  But this thing is just so big, so unbelievable, we need to do all we 
can to help these people get back on their feet.
  As I said, this will take a lot of work over a long period of time, 
but now is the time to begin.

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