    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book II)]
    [September 9, 1996]
    [Pages 1512-1513]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks After Surveying Flood Damage Along the Potomac River and an
    Exchange With Reporters
    September 9, 1996

        The President. Good afternoon. I have just completed a tour by
    helicopter of flooded areas in nearby Virginia and Maryland, along the
    Potomac and the C&O Canal with Interior Secretary Babbitt and FEMA
    Director James Lee Witt.
        Let me first say that our thoughts and prayers are with the people
    who have suffered losses along our Eastern States because of the effects
    of Hurricane Fran. Lives have been lost; homes and businesses have been
    destroyed or badly damaged.
        For many of our people, the effects have been truly devastating. I
    want to reassure the people who have suffered that we will provide quick
    action to help in their urgent time of need. We will do whatever we can
    to help them get back on their feet.
        Virginia has been severely affected. We can see the flooding along
    the Potomac, but it has also occurred along the Dan, the James, the
    Roanoke, the Shenandoah, and the Rappahannock Rivers. On Friday, the day
    after Virginia Governor George Allen requested a disaster declaration, I
    authorized FEMA to provide 100 percent funding for direct Federal
    assistance to help with the cleanup of all counties in the Commonwealth
    of Virginia.
        In addition, based on visits to the affected areas by Director Witt,
    additional assistance is being made available to several cities:
    Danville, Harrisonburg, Staunton, and Waynesboro, and to Augusta,
    Halifax, Madison, Pittsylvania, and Rockingham Counties, through FEMA's
    individual assistance programs.
        Today five additional counties have been added to that list:
    Mecklenburg, Page, Rappahannock, Shenandoah, and Warren. This will give
    help to individuals, including temporary housing, family grants, and
    low-interest loans. Residents in Virginia counties designated for the
    individual programs should call FEMA's hotline to receive help.
        The FEMA number is 800-462-9029. That's 800-462-9029. In North
    Carolina, where many lives have been lost, 24 counties have been
    declared eligible for the individual assistance programs as a result of
    Hurricane Fran. More than 4,000 people have already registered for help
    in the State of North Carolina.
        FEMA will continue to assess the damage from storms, high winds, and
    flooding until we're sure that the needs of all the affected populations
    are met in Virginia, North Carolina, and in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and
    West Virginia.
        In disasters such as this, it takes all of us coming together to
    help our fellow citizens get back on their feet. Many have offered
    donations. A hotline has been set up for those donations as well. That's
    800-747-8920. 800-747-8920. The American Red Cross is also helping to
    get aid to people in need.
        Back in the winter, severe snowstorms caused terrible damage along
    the C&O Canal, as I saw

    [[Page 1513]]

    again today. Those damages were repaired by determined people, and
    because of their work, our people were able to enjoy the paths and the
    beauty along the canal through the summer. Much of that work will now
    have to be done again because it's been undone by the flooding. But our
    people have always been resilient in the face of disasters, and we know
    that they will be resilient again.
        We will do everything we can to get help to them as quickly as we
    can, and to stay with them for as long as it takes. Again, let me thank
    Secretary Babbitt, Secretary Cisneros, Secretary Pena, the others who
    have worked on this, and especially, as always, Director Witt, for an
    excellent job. Thank you very much.

    Flood Assessment

        Q. Mr. President, there's another storm brewing in the Caribbean,
    Hurricane Hortense. How many--what if that should hit the States, and
    how many can we afford for emergency relief?
        The President. Well, Hortense is brewing in the Caribbean, and of
    course, our first concern now, as I understand it, is for Puerto Rico.
    And we will just watch it, but we'll have to afford as many as we have
    to sustain. We have to put a high priority on this.
        I think the thing that impressed me--you asked me if there was any
    one thing I saw that impressed me--the thing that impressed me today was
    seeing those areas so heavily flooded around Great Falls that I visited.
    You remember the Vice President and I went out there--I think it was on
    Earth Day--and helped to clean away some of the debris with a lot of the
    young people that were there with the AmeriCorps and local conservation
    programs. To see it all under water again and the power--the sheer
    energy and power of the Potomac manifesting itself all the way downriver
    and the flooding of Old Town in Alexandria, the inundation of Hains
    Point, where I run so many times, and those other places that it really
    reminds you of the incredible impact that a hurricane and its storm
    center can have, even in areas where it doesn't directly hit.
        Q. Is that area salvageable now, sir? This is the second big hit
    in----
        The President. Absolutely, sure it is. Secretary Babbitt pointed out
    that actually a lot of the major investments that were approved by the
    Congress to fix what was done before have not been made yet. So they
    have almost all their major capital investments still to make. And
    therefore, the funds have not been, if you will, wasted or broken, and
    we'll be able to go forward.
        Is that right?
        Director James Lee Witt. Absolutely.
        Q. Sir, do you see the--to the Republicans--[inaudible]----
        The President. No, I think Americans, without regard to party,
    believe in aggressive disaster relief. I would hope they do. We've been
    through a 500-year flood in the Middle West, the big flooding in the
    Pacific Northwest, the earthquake, and all the terrible other problems
    that we had in California, the fires and the floodings. So just about
    every region of America has been touched in the last 4 years by some
    form of disaster or another, and I think we all understand our shared
    responsibilities there.
        Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:39 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White
    House.