[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15643]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       DISASTER IN SOUTH CAROLINA

  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, I just returned from South Carolina. I am 
sure many Members of the body have been watching this drama unfold on 
television. I have never seen anything like it. I was in the Charleston 
area over the weekend. There was 18 inches in about 24 hours, and 
Columbia, SC, is really under siege. It is a thousand-year historic 
rain. I am not a meteorologist, but it seems as if everything bad that 
could happen did happen to send the water and the rain to South 
Carolina. All 46 counties have received Federal emergency declaration. 
There has been a verbal request for a major disaster declaration for 11 
counties; 1,300 National Guard deployed and 7,000 more on standby; the 
entire State trooper force is on the road; 1,250 South Carolina DOT 
maintenance employees working; 550 road closures; 150 bridge closures; 
26,000 and climbing without power; 40,000 and climbing without water; 
there have been 9 deaths.
  The economic damage--we don't know yet. There will be an insurance 
component, and there will be a disaster relief component. As we get 
through this and look at the damages--that comes later--we are not 
going to ask the Federal Government to do anything beyond the 
responsibility of the government. We will not turn this into a pile-on 
party.
  The bottom line is I really appreciate my colleagues coming up and 
offering their assistance and their prayers to the people of South 
Carolina. Our Governor and the entire infrastructure of the emergency 
management system in South Carolina have done a very good job.
  More is coming. The rain is about to depart the area, but we will 
have runoff from upstate of South Carolina that will flow down to the 
coast and run right through the communities that have been hit the 
hardest. So there is a second wave of water coming.
  My sister lives in the Columbia area, and I can say there are very 
few families in South Carolina not affected by this. Manning, SC, is 
virtually underwater. ``We are thinking about the people of South 
Carolina'' is what I have heard from all of my colleagues. Senator 
Schumer called. The Vice President called. I appreciate all of your 
concern and prayers. We will hopefully get this behind us soon in terms 
of the rainfall and start building up some levees and dams that are 
just about to break. I worry about the bridges and the damage to our 
bridges. I don't think we really appreciate how extensive it is.
  This is sort of the worst of nature coming our way, but I think we 
met it with the best of human nature. From what I can tell, people have 
been working together trying to slug through this. And I will just echo 
what the Governor said: Stay in your homes. Get off the roads. It is so 
dangerous down there. Anybody who has to be rescued because they are 
out looking around and taking photos is draining resources from the 
people who are under siege.
  So on behalf of Tim Scott and myself, we are going to do whatever we 
can, with our House delegation, to make sure our State is taken care of 
in an appropriate fashion. Hopefully by the end of this week we will 
begin to survey the damage, but unfortunately there is more coming as 
the runoff from upstate makes its way to the coast. This was literally 
a perfect storm of things coming together to take water from the 
hurricane and create a river of rain. I have never seen anything like 
it, and I have lived in the State all my life.
  To the people without power, whose houses are underwater, whose cars 
have been devastated, those who have lost loved ones, we are definitely 
thinking about you. We are pulling together in our State.
  Mr. President, 2015 has been a miserable year for the State of South 
Carolina. Some of the worst things have happened, and we are still 
hanging in there. Everybody is clinging to each other in a very 
heartwarming way. And I am sure there will be exceptions to that rule--
curfews are in place--but the vast majority of South Carolinians are 
rising to the occasion.
  I was talking to the Governor last night. We can't wait to get this 
year behind us. And I cannot tell you, from the Charleston shooting to 
this, how tough it has been for our State. But when it is all said and 
done, we are going to be together and come out stronger.
  To the families who are thinking the world has come to an end, God 
willing, it will get better. The water will pass, we will start 
surveying the damage, and we will help those who need help. We are not 
going to ask for a penny more than we need. This is not about fixing 
problems unrelated to this event; this is about appropriately dealing 
with this event and nothing more.
  I thank the President and the Members of this body who have offered 
their prayers and wishes for the people of South Carolina.
  To the people of my State, to the first responders, to all who have 
been involved trying to take care of your fellow citizens, God bless 
you. To our Governor and her team, I know you are working so hard.
  I would end this with a request for prayers. Any money that people 
can send will be much appreciated because there are people who have 
lost everything they have worked for all their lives. It is days like 
this that make you appreciate one another.
  There is a role for the government to play here, but at the end of 
the day, it is going to be people helping people, with the government 
providing some resources, but we will have to help each other. There is 
no substitute for neighbor taking care of neighbor here.
  I appreciate the floor time. I will keep the body informed as this 
disaster unfolds.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Will the Senator hold his suggestion?
  Mr. GRAHAM. Yes. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.

                          ____________________