Political Quotes

“as I suspect you know, Vermont has been hit very hard by Hurricane Irene. The storm caused widespread flooding, resulting in a number of deaths, the loss of many homes and businesses, and hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to property and infrastructure. I have visited many of the most hard-hit towns in the past week, including Ludlow, Wilmington, Brattleboro, Berlin, Moretown, and Waterbury. I was shocked and moved by the extent of the damage I saw. Many towns still have very limited access because the roads and bridges that link them to the world have been destroyed. This disaster will go down in history as one of the very worst natural disasters in the history of the State of Vermont. Let me take this opportunity to personally thank the emergency rescue teams and all those aiding the victims of the floods for their outstanding work. Local crews, along with the Vermont National Guard, and Guard units from other States, such as New Hampshire, Maine, and Illinois, have airline-lifted food, water, blankets, and medicine to the worst hit towns. Police, fire, and local officials have also done an extraordinary job. We still don't know the cost of this disaster--it probably will not be tabulated for a while--but let me share a few figures in terms of what we have experienced. Just days after the declaration of a major disaster by the President, more than 2,000 Vermonters had already registered with FEMA--2,000.…”