Michelle Wu: “Mr. Speaker, between December 1 and December 3, the States of Oregon and Washington were battered by an exceptionally…”

“Mr. Speaker, between December 1 and December 3, the States of Oregon and Washington were battered by an exceptionally severe storm. One wind measurement instrument clocked at 129 miles an hour before it blew over, and I am told by a helicopter pilot that the U.S. Coast Guard measured winds up to 150 miles an hour. This is the first time that the National Weather Service used the term ``hurricane'' in connection with a storm outside of the tropics or subtropics, certainly as far north as latitude 45 where we are. We set an unfortunate record. We have frequent storms in the Pacific Northwest, but what set this one apart is that while the typical winter storm may bring winds of 70 or 100 miles an hour for a few hours to coastal Oregon, this storm brought sustained winds of 85 to 100 miles per hour for 24 hours and gusts up to 130, 150 miles an hour. Entire swaths of trees were uprooted or snapped off. Homes were flooded. Twelve to 14 inches of rain fell in a 24-hour period in some parts of the coast range, and both Interstate 5 and the main Amtrak line on the west coast were closed for a period of time. The folks who live in the coast range and on the coast were especially hard hit. But we are a hardy people who live in this paradise, and people took care of themselves. They immediately reached out to their neighbors. They helped each other, pulled together as a community, and we got through this together.”