[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15116-15117]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     THE 911 DISPATCHERS OF HARVEY

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, in the inky darkness of night, during 
the hammering rain of Harvey, reservoirs released even more water with 
little

[[Page 15117]]

notice to people downstream. Meanwhile, hundreds of first responders 
battled the incessant rain, rising floodwaters, and raging currents to 
rescue people from homes.
  Inside the dimly lit call center, 911 dispatchers answered call after 
call after call, racing to keep up as tense thousands dialed in. 
Dispatchers like 26-year-old Erika Wells worked 20-hour stretches, then 
trying to grab a nap or two.
  With phones constantly ringing, the dispatchers sent rescue teams to 
homes packed with people in need of escape, a woman in labor, and 
families trapped on their roofs. As the 50-inch rain kept pounding and 
floodwaters rose, the dispatchers answered, calmed, and helped those in 
need.
  As the morning Sun finally broke through the Texas sky, the 
dispatchers emerged from their stations and finally checked on their 
own families, many of whom had their own homes flooded. These 
dispatchers are some of the Texas Proud that helped save others in the 
floods of summer.
  And that is just the way it is.

                          ____________________