Ohio Flooding

ESSIONAL RECORD
SENATE
Sept. 30, 2004

OHIO FLOODING

Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, we are all well aware of the horrible devastation that has been caused by the four hurricanes that have hit the United States and have hit other countries so far this season: Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne. We have seen pictures of the damaged homes. We have seen the victims interviewed on TV. We have seen the floodwaters that have drowned many towns and villages.

My home State of Ohio has also suffered damage from these storms, damage that has warranted the classification of 30 of our counties as Federal disaster areas. These counties include: Athens, Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Gallia, Guernsey, Harrison, Jefferson, Mahoning, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Stark, Trumbull, Tuscarawas, Vinton, and Washington.

Last Friday, when I was home, it was my privilege to tour some of the flooded areas in Ohio and to talk to some of the people who are victims. I must say, while I have seen floods before, been along the Ohio Valley before, and seen what floods can do, I was, again, overwhelmed at what I saw. Some areas looked like a war zone.

The power of water never ceases to amaze me, whether it is the Ohio River when it comes up, or in creeks and streams a long way from the Ohio River when flash floods come up and do unbelievable damage and homes are literally ripped apart and trailers are ripped apart. I saw this when I was home.

At its highest, the floodwaters in Marietta, along the Ohio River, covered the first floor of many buildings. From this picture, a photo taken by the Washington County Sheriff's Office in Marietta, you can get some idea of what Marietta looked like when the river came up-absolutely unbelievable. People used boats to get around as they surveyed what they lost and what they could possibly save.

In other areas, trucks were washed away, mobile homes stood on their sides, and debris was everywhere. There was garbage strewn clear up into the trees.

Many businesses were, of course, forced to close, as owners went out to salvage what was left. As you can see from this picture, it did not look like this Wendy's restaurant-after this picture was taken-would be serving Wendy's hamburgers very soon.

But we do know that people are resilient. When I got there, it had been 5 or 6 days since the peak of the water, which you are seeing in these pictures. People were already getting back into business. Businesses were opening. People are unbelievably resilient.

This picture of Wendy's is absolutely unbelievable at the height of the flood.

Belmont County and the village of Neffs, which I visited, experienced severe flash flooding-a different kind of water damage, a different type of flooding, but unbelievably devastating as well. I toured Neffs, and water was freely flowing in and out of houses as the long cleanup process began-again, another picture of what this looked like, not when I was there, but during the height of the storm.

Twenty Ohio counties are like this-20. Already, nearly 4,000 individuals in the disaster-declared counties have called to apply for assistance.

Part of the tragedy of the floods is that so many residents simply did not have the warning that they needed.

Senator Voinovich and I and Congressman Strickland and Congressman Ney and others are asking the National Weather Service to give us an explanation for what happened because when I was in Marietta a number of people told us that night they received a flood warning, but then the National Weather Service took that warning off. People went to bed. Yet during the night the flood warning was put back on. Many businesspeople and homeowners, for example, whom I talked to simply were not prepared. The floodwater came up during the night and did tremendous damage. People were not prepared for that.

So our question to the Weather Service is, why was that mistake made? Why was the flood warning on, then off, and then back on again? It was very misleading to people, and we want to know exactly what the explanation is. We have written to the Weather Service and we want a full explanation about that.

One of the most heartening things, though-you see this, and I have seen it before in Ohio; I know we have seen it across the country-is the number of people who help neighbors, who come out and do unbelievable work. They come out of nowhere and volunteer. I saw amazing displays of human kindness, generosity of the human spirit, neighbors helping each other get their lives back together. As they have done so many times before, Ohioans have pulled together as part of a community effort to reclaim their houses and businesses from the floodwaters.

I met a woman, for example, who is originally from Neffs, the town I was talking about, but now lives in Columbus and works at Ohio State. She asked for 4 days of vacation time-it was granted-so she could go back home, back to Neffs and help with the cleanup. She joined several other volunteers to help serve meals in the basement of one of the local churches, a place I had the occasion to visit.

It is that kind of spirit we see. This is one of the countless acts of generosity exhibited by people that I saw.

I saw a business, for example, in Marietta. The woman who was cleaning up-it was horrible; all her inventory had mud all over it; it was a mess-she said: Senator, come in the back. I want to show you something. I went back with her, and clear in the back through her business, back in the back alley. And she said: Look. There were people there who came in to volunteer, and they had an assembly line, and they were washing the inventory she had, these little toys, these little different things.

It was an amazing thing to see. These were all volunteers, all people who came in. They had some adults and some younger kids who were in there who were volunteering and helping her.

I saw another man in Marietta. He was cleaning up his business. He took me back and showed me where there was a piano. He said: You will not believe this story. He said: The flood kept coming up and coming up and coming up. We were up in the second story of our house. He said: I kept taking pictures and posting them on the Internet. All of a sudden my phone rang. I couldn't figure out who was calling me.

He said the person who called on the phone said: Are you-and the person said his name. He answered: Yes, this is such-and-such business.

He said: We are outside.
He said: You can't be outside. There is nothing but water outside.
He said: Well, look outside.

So he went to his window on the second story and there were a couple guys in a row boat. And they said: We are here to help you. And they had come in from the countryside, rode their boat into Marietta, and they had some cement blocks they had brought because they had heard that his piano was getting soaked and he couldn't do anything about it. It was getting ruined. So they brought that boat in, landed the boat in his place of business, tied the boat up, unloaded the cement blocks, lifted the piano up, put the cement blocks under the piano so the piano would not get wet.

He said: I had never seen those guys before. They left and I still don't know who they are. But I had tears coming out of my eyes when they left because I couldn't believe it, that someone would do that for me.

That is the type of thing you see, in spite of all the horror, replicated not only in Ohio but across this country.

I must also say, I was so impressed by the work of the men and women of the Ohio National Guard-they always do a great job-the Ohio Emergency Management Agency, the great professionals who are always there; FEMA; the county directors, their staffs, countless other volunteers who have worked tirelessly to help bring food, clean water to the area. They have already distributed almost $5 million in disaster assistance and continue to work as we speak tonight. We appreciate their efforts and thank them.

It is going to take months before these flood-ravaged communities return to normal. We must make sure to employ every resource available to make sure Ohioans can get back in their homes and back to their jobs, the day-to-day business, as soon as possible. It has been rough going for so many different people in Ohio.

I, again, thank all those who have volunteered and assisted in the cleanup and rebuilding. I know what I saw in Ohio with our flood damage has been replicated in so many other States, not just in this country but in other countries. There are many other people hurting.

I came to the floor tonight to share with my colleagues what I saw as I traveled around my State last week. It is so heartening to see how people fight back. I know this Congress will continue to be of assistance and of help to them as we reach out to all the victims of the hurricanes and we give them a hand up and help them through this crisis.

My experience has been that in the immediate days after the hurricanes and flooding, it is always tough. But the weeks and months even beyond that are tough as well. We are not going to forget them. I know my colleagues in the Senate will not forget them, and the Federal Government will not forget them. We need to let them know we are still going to be there with them through the Federal agencies and be of assistance.

I yield the floor.