Mike Quigley: “Last month the Nation watched as our friends in Louisiana were inundated by record rainfall and unprecedented flooding.…”

“Last month the Nation watched as our friends in Louisiana were inundated by record rainfall and unprecedented flooding. More than 7 trillion gallons of water fell in Louisiana and Mississippi over 8 days. Thirteen lives have been lost. More than 7,000 people were forced into 37 shelters across Louisiana. There has been an estimated $110 million in agricultural losses, and 40,000 homes have been damaged. Just a few weeks before the devastating floods in the South, in Ellicott City, Maryland, not too far away from here, nearly 6 inches of rain fell in less than 2 hours, resulting in a torrential flood, the likes of which NOAA has told us happens just once every 1,000 years. Officials say that 90 businesses and 107 homes were damaged and that infrastructure repairs are estimated to cost at least $22 million. These statistics are devastating, and, if we fail to better prepare ourselves for the severe impacts of manmade climate change, we will only see more disasters like this. First responders and emergency professionals deserve our utmost praise and admiration, as do the kind citizens on the streets who help their neighbors escape the rushing waters, and the people all over the country who contribute what they can to help put broken cities back together. But we must stop putting our heroes in harm's way. The science is clear, it is conclusive, and it is settled: these natural disasters aren't all natural.…”