[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 10558-10559]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



      THE CITY OF HOUSTON IN RECOVERY AFTER TROPICAL STORM ALLISON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, on June 5, 2001, the storm 
of a lifetime, Tropical Storm Allison, hit the city of Houston and the 
surrounding areas. I rise today to pay tribute and to acknowledge the 
terrible loss that our community has suffered, the loss of some 21 
individuals in our community; and whether or not the count is complete, 
we offer and I offer my deepest sympathy to all of those who have lost 
loved ones.
  We know now that close to 17,000 residents of the city of Houston and 
surrounding areas have been impacted and have to be in shelters. But 
what we do know is that Houston has a can-do attitude, and we have 
drawn together as a community.
  I am delighted that my colleagues from Texas will join me in a 
resolution congratulating all of those individuals who sacrificed and 
suffered, the ones who sacrificed to help with the rescue, the U.S. 
Coast Guard, the Houston Fire Department, the Houston Police 
Department, the various Red Cross workers and volunteers, and so many 
others who were just passing by and became a Good Samaritan.
  It was a storm of a lifetime, because those who have lived in Houston 
all of their life have never seen such a storm, starting first on June 
5, 2001, subsiding for a while, and then starting up with all of its 
fury in a couple of days. The downtown was under water, the Medical 
Center was under water, residential areas were under water, and people 
everywhere were impacted. Freeways were shut down.
  But that did not stop the mighty might of those who live in the 
greater Houston area. Mayor Lee P. Brown did an outstanding job of 
gathering the troops around and encouraging us to be able to accept our 
fate, but yet begin to recover.
  Just this past Tuesday there was a Day of Prayer. As this hit, I was 
in the city and was able to engage with both the Mayor and the county 
judge as we surveyed the area. We are grateful for the Mayor's 
leadership in his letter to the Governor and the Governor's leadership, 
Governor Perry, in immediately contacting the White House, as we worked 
together in making contact with the White House and the President 
exercising his authority and declaring this a disaster area and in an 
expeditious time. We thank him.
  At the same time, we thank those who withstood the storm. As I 
traveled throughout the district on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, as I 
traveled with the U.S. Coast Guard by helicopter and as well with the 
FEMA director, Joe Allbaugh, we all had one intent in mind, to 
immediately rescue and help those who were so devastated. There was a 
great deal of bravery, a great deal of heroism. The community did come 
together.
  The recovery will be long. There are enormous challenges to overcome, 
and that is with the energy concern, the electricity concern, the 
telephone concern, the housing concern, the health concern, the school 
concern. Yes, the city has been impacted in so many ways, upwards of $1 
billion in damage. But what I can be gratified for is that there have 
been many efforts, corporate donations, FEMA on the ground, and the 
persistence of those of us who believe in helping, that we will press 
the point that these individuals will be able to overcome bureaucratic 
red tape and be declared recipients of funds that they truly need.
  Let me thank my colleagues for their very kind remarks, and let me 
also acknowledge the various agencies like the IRS and other agencies 
that have noted the predicament of our community. I look forward to 
working with FEMA, ensuring that the reimbursement comes about.
  I want to thank the Red Cross centers, the volunteer centers, 
Lakewood Church, Fondren Seventh Day Adventist Church, Kirby Middle 
School, all started by volunteers. The Sweet Home Baptist Church, the 
Sunnyside Multiservice, many of them initially manned by volunteers, 
and the Red Cross that

[[Page 10559]]

came in subsequently. Although I know that they are not listening 
because they are focused on so many other important issues, let me 
thank them again.

                              {time}  1730

  To the arts community of Houston, they are a viable part of your 
community. We will work with them. To the downtown business community 
that has a number of the small business entrepreneurs who made our 
business community vibrant, we will work with them. To the media, we 
will thank and work with them continuously as they provide information 
throughout all of the community.
  Likewise, I am delighted to be able to recognize the donation of Mr. 
George Foreman, a native Houstonian, of $250,000, and of course a 
number of the corporations, as well. We will offer a resolution of 
appreciation, as well as assisting the community with any other support 
and legislative initiatives that may be brought about.
  I want to thank the Harris County delegation for their leadership in 
this effort, and I hope that we will be able to recover together as a 
community united as one.
  Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the work by thousands of 
Houstonians to recover in the wake of the disastrous flooding that 
inundated Southeast Texas and to remember those lives lost over the 
last several days due to this tragedy.
  There has not been a complete accounting of all of those who have 
been reported missing in the Houston area, but there are already 21 
deaths, which have been attributed directly to the flooding that 
occurred in the city. The death toll could have been much higher had it 
not been for the bravery and dedication of our city's fire fighters, 
law enforcement officers, public works crews, and emergency management 
personnel. I would like to also extend thanks and appreciation to those 
private citizens who rushed to the aid of fellow citizens who were in 
danger of succumbing to the floodwaters. These heroic individuals may 
not all be known, but the evidence of their caring and humanity is 
evident in the number of those who are reported to have been lost. 
These Houstonians used their personal boats and watercraft to rescue 
neighbors, friend, family and strangers from the rising floodwaters.
  My appreciation also extends to those surrounding counties that 
provided assistance to residents of Houston, when the city was not able 
to respond due to the overwhelming numbers of request.
  The catastrophic flooding has left 17,000 resident of the City of 
Houston and surrounding area in desperate need of emergency shelter, 
this is in addition to the sizable Houston homeless population. Across 
Harris County Texas it is estimated that as many as 21,000 homes are 
thought to be without power, phones, and water, with about 5,000 homes 
having been flooded.
  Reliant Energy/HL&P reported that 34,000 of their customers, who 
included hospitals, were without power during the flooding.
  The medical personal of Memorial Herman Hospital are to be commended 
for their quick action to move patients to safer ground when the 
hospital was threatened by floodwaters. Memorial Herman Hospital is a 
level 1-trauma center and transplant center with multiple levels of 
adult, pediatric and neonatal intensive-care capabilities. The flood 
forced the hospital to suspend service on Saturday, and move all of its 
patients to safety.
  I would like to thank our fellow Americans for rushing to the aid of 
the residents of the City of Houston. I would like to remind us all how 
important it is to offer assistance to those in distress due to natural 
or man made disasters. Therefore, I thank President Bush for acting 
quickly to declare Southeast Texas a federal disaster area. The City of 
Houston is estimated to have a billion dollars in damage as a result of 
the flood.
  The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has also recognized the enormity 
of the flood in our area by providing an automatic extension from the 
June 15 deadline for filling or paying taxes to August 15 of this year. 
I thank the Director of the IRS for allowing this additional time for 
Houston area residents.



  The flood and its severity were exacerbated by the fact that land in 
and around the Houston area has been subsidence of land. Many report 
that the area around the Medical Center area had subsided about 2 feet 
from 1973 to 1995. New data on subsidence in the Houston area is due to 
come out at the end of this month, according to the National Geodetic 
Survey office.
  The floods economic impact to the area may be difficult to assess. 
There are an estimated 76,000 ATM bank machines that were effected by 
the flood, which may have implications for 22 states. The Pulse ATM 
network reported that the flood disrupted transactions when the primary 
and secondary power supplies was flooded in Houston. This led to the 
forced closing of the Bush Intercontinental Airport, suspension of 
Metro bus service, the flooding of major highways into and out of the 
city, such as I-10, Highway 59, I-45, parts of the 610 Loop, have all 
had a tremendous impact on the city's business community.
  Houston is in recovery due to the efforts of thousands of public 
servants, businesses, and individual efforts. I would like to commend 
and thank the Houston Chronicle and KHOU-TV (Channel 11) for leading an 
effort which has raised almost $6 million to aid the Red Cross' massive 
relief effort. Those stations that also joined in this effort are KPRC-
TV (Channel 2), KRIV-TV (Channel 26), KTMD-TV (Channel 48), KLN-TV 
(Channel 45), and KRBE-FM (104.1).
  Clear Channel Communications reported more than $30,000 in donations 
and 50 to 60 truckloads of supplies, and businesses and organizations 
contributed $353,000, with $100,000 of this amount coming from Calpine 
Corporation.
  Former heavyweight boxing champion Mr. George Foreman, a native 
Houstonian, donated $250,000 to this effort.
  Furthermore, I will work with local, state, and federal governments 
to ensure that Houston has the resources necessary to make a full 
recovery from the floods. I will investigate the severity of this flood 
and evaluate methods that can be put into place to prevent another 
tragedy of the magnitude from happening again.
  I thank my colleagues for their support during this difficult time.

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