Amy Klobuchar: “I rise to offer my thoughts and prayers to the people and communities throughout the Midwest who were hurt by last…”

“I rise to offer my thoughts and prayers to the people and communities throughout the Midwest who were hurt by last week's massive floods. It appears that the floodwaters have begun to recede. But the long, hard process of cleaning up and rebuilding lies ahead. In particular, I offer sympathy and support to my colleagues Tom Harkin and Charles Grassley, the Senators from Iowa, whose governor has declared 83 of the State's 99 counties to be disaster areas. Worst hit was the city of Cedar Rapids, IA. Over 9 square miles--or 1,300 blocks--were flooded in the city and 25,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes. Preliminary estimates indicate over $700 million in damage. This is in Cedar Rapids alone. In Cedar Rapids, it is being called not the flood of the century--but the flood of the half-millennium--an event that should occur only once in 500 years. In fact, rescue workers from Minnesota have been deployed to Iowa to help the victims of the flooding there. While the residents and businesses of Cedar Rapids were hit the hardest, they were hardly alone. Heavy rainfall last week submerged much of the Midwest--Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, and my own State of Minnesota. Throughout the Midwest, corn and soybean fields turned into lakes. City streets turned into canals. It's like Waterworld. There is water nearly everywhere. And where there isn't water, there is mud. Lots of mud.”