[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Page 4579]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            HOUSTON FLOODING

  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, over this last weekend and through 
yesterday, large parts of central and southeast Texas experienced 
torrential downpours. The Houston region in particular experienced so 
much rain, it led to widespread flooding. I know many people have seen 
that on TV, in news reports, or online.
  Many will recall that last year over Memorial Day weekend, Harris 
County, which is where Houston is located, suffered from similar 
flooding. This year's rain seems to be even more widespread, with some 
areas receiving as much as 20 inches of rain in a relatively short 
period of time. Whole subdivisions were submerged, interstate highways 
were impassable, and power was knocked out, which affected more than 
100,000 people at one point. Tragically, several people have died as a 
result of these floods.
  Amidst this tragedy, Texans have been quick to help one another. 
Crews had performed more than 1,000 rescues as of yesterday afternoon, 
and even one TV reporter on location covering the story rushed to 
rescue an elderly man from a flooded underpass. The rescue is on 
YouTube. I recommend anybody who is interested to watch it. It is 
really quite a rescue.
  This morning I spoke to County Judge Ed Emmett of Harris County, and 
I will continue to stay in close contact with him, as well as the chief 
of the Texas Department of Emergency Management, in the coming days.
  The one thing I do know is that Texans are resilient. In particular, 
the people in the Houston region, where I happen to have been born, are 
used to storms that cause that kind of flooding. But the rebuilding 
effort will be long and one that will require support from officials at 
all levels.
  Going forward, I will do everything I can to help mobilize Federal 
resources for the Houston area should the Governor determine a Federal 
disaster declaration is necessary. In the meantime, our thoughts and 
prayers are with the people of Houston and other affected areas in 
Texas, and we hope and pray for their safety and their fast recovery.

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