Statement of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton Regarding the One Year Anniversary of the 2006 Floods
Statement
Statement of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton Regarding the One Year Anniversary of the 2006 Floods
"A full year has passed since the devastating floods ripped through the region. While we have come so far in the past year, we still need to take care of those who are struggling to get back to where they were a year ago.
Many areas have also had to deal with even more rain and floods over the past year, causing even more damage to property and testing everyone's capacity to endure. Most recently we saw more destructive flooding in Delaware and Sullivan Counties. Despite so much devastation from the floods, the strength of the community became very clear. Neighbors banded together to help cope with the damage and others from around the region and the state came in to assist. The spirit and strength of the community was never stronger.
While much has been accomplished in just one short year, we know that more needs to be done. I have worked hard with local community officials since day one to make sure that the full resources of the federal government were made available to the victims of the floods. We pushed FEMA to respond as quickly as possible and pushed the President to make essential funds available. We established a Feed and Forage Exchange to help our farmers and worked with the Army Corps to highlight debris clean-up issues. We worked with local businesses to encourage them to stay in the region and pushed the federal authorities to redraft their flood plain maps for the future. Now we are fighting to secure $30 million in Congress to develop and implement improvements to the Susquehanna and Upper Delaware River Watersheds.
There is much that can be taken away from the tragedies experienced during the floods. I am committed to working with all of our partners to try and mitigate the impact of future disasters with better communication systems, stronger flood walls and watershed improvements. There is still much more work to be done. Families, small businesses and farmers are still facing the after-effects of this disaster. I will continue to work with local, state and federal officials to take care of the region's needs as we move forward."
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