Chicago Flooding

Floor Speech

CHICAGO FLOODING -- (Senate - September 16, 2008)

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today President Bush was in Texas to see firsthand the devastation from Hurricane Ike. Unfortunately, this is not the first time, nor will it be the last time, that Mother Nature has shown us her worst. My heart goes out to the millions of displaced residents and evacuees who are anxious to return home, who are without power, who must depend on others for food and water and other necessities, and who face the long hard task of rebuilding their homes and communities.

We know a little of what that is like in Illinois. In June, the Midwest was hit by massive flooding, some of the worst we have seen since the Great Flood of 1993. Experts called it a 200 to 500-year event. It left entire communities underwater, broke levees, and washed away roads, bridges, and millions of acres of cropland. The damage could have been worse, if Illinoisans had not worked so long and so hard to fill sandbags, fortify levees, and stand their ground against the rising waters of the Mississippi.

But sometimes weather-related disasters strike with no warning and you don't have time to prepare for the worst. Over the weekend my State was hit by the sixth major flooding event in the last year alone when 3 days of rain dumped more than 100 billion gallons of water on the city of Chicago--two or three times the normal amount. More than 7 inches of rain fell on the Chicago area on Saturday alone, setting a new 1-day record at O'Hare. In the suburbs, some of the worst flooding was along the Des Plaines River, which crested at near-record levels, displaced thousands of residents, and flooded hundreds of homes.

On Monday I had a chance to see for myself the damage in Albany Park, a neighborhood in Chicago that was one of the hardest hit areas. Thirty-ninth Ward Alderman Margaret Laurino accompanied me as I met with residents like Aaron Gadiel, who waded through knee-high water in his fishing boots and searched his home to see if he could salvage clothing for his kids. I want to commend the local and city officials I saw going door to door with pumps, checking to see if residents needed help, and pitching in wherever they were needed. I especially want to thank Terry O'Brien, president of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, and Ray Orozco, executive director of Chicago's Office of Emergency Management and Communications, OEMC, for taking the time to show me the extent of the flood damage.

The same weather system that dumped billions of gallons of rain on Chicago also caused the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers to swell in other parts of Illinois. U.S. Army Corps officials are keeping a close eye on the system of levees and dams that protect these communities to make sure that these residents don't experience a repeat of the June floods.

Today the skies are clearing over Chicago. Water levels are falling, roads are reopening and some folks are returning home. But the recordbreaking rains that evacuated thousands, left four dead, closed roads and flooded homes have left more than a watermark. As Des Plaines Mayor Tony Arredia rightly pointed out, we still have cleaning up to do. I am committed to making sure that Illinoisans do not face this task alone.

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