Thirty-two years ago today, I joined President Clinton, Governor of Iowa Terry Branstad and members of the Iowa congressional delegation to tour catastrophic flood damage in my home state.
The Great Flood of 1993 ravaged nine states in America’s Heartland.
This reminds me of a poster we in the Midwest showed at that particular time – and I was hoping I could round it up and show [it] again to the Senate.
But it had a picture of the Great Lakes in the satellite and then it had a picture of the flood areas of the Midwest.
And the blue that shows up where the water is, was almost as blue in the Midwest that was flooded, along with the same color of the Great Lakes.
Flooded tributaries at this time of the ’93 flood overtopped levees, devastating communities, businesses and the livelihood connected to those businesses.
More than 15 million acres of farmland were under water.
Barge traffic on the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers stopped for two long months.
A quarter of a million residents in Des Moines went without running water for 11 days.
At least 54,000 people were evacuated.
The 1993 flood amassed the largest financial loss from flooding in modern history.
The second costliest flood swept the Midwest 15 years later in 2008.
Of course, the loss of life is the most significant tragedy of any natural disaster.
Fifty precious lives were lost in the 1993 flood.
Iowans know first-hand the anguish and despair caused by natural disasters.
So, on behalf of my home state, we mourn the loss of life in Texas Hill Country from flash flooding along the Guadalupe River on July the Fourth this year.
As the road to recovery gets underway, Iowans stand with Texans.
The grit and resilience we have in the Midwest runs just as deep in the state of Texas.
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