HURRICANE SEASON

On 2026-06-23, Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) delivered a floor speech titled "HURRICANE SEASON" in the Senate.

HURRICANE SEASON

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 105 (Tuesday, June 23, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 105 (Tuesday, June 23, 2026)] [Senate] [Page S3041] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] HURRICANE SEASON Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, I am so proud of the great State of Louisiana. And sometimes, that is advocating for great policy, but other times, it is delivering a message of sympathy. And right now, I want to deliver a message of sympathy for people in my State. Today, families are assessing the damage left behind by Tropical Storm Arthur. People are assessing the damage left, and they are cleaning out flooded homes. Businesses are surveying losses. Neighbors are helping each other get back on their feet, giving a warm meal or a place to stay. If you are in one of these homes, you need a place to stay. And we are entering hurricane season, which means that people in Louisiana and elsewhere want to be prepared. Being prepared means to plan. But Mike Tyson once said: You have got a plan until a fist hits you in the face. Well, a hurricane can be a fist hitting you in the face, and the plan you have will go out the window when the tornado hits your home--a tornado spawned by the hurricane. The damage is always different. Tropical Storm Arthur, fortunately, only caused--although, don't minimize the importance of these--only caused two injuries that we know of, even though there were multiple tornadoes and six parishes under a state of emergency. Avoyelles Parish was at 29 inches of rain in 1 day--29 inches of rain in 1 day--which, hopefully, is a once-in-a-thousand-year rainfall event. So you may have a plan, but when you have more than an inch an hour in 24 hours, you cannot be fully prepared. So I want to remind colleagues that, while news cycles jump from one topic to another overnight, families in my State are dealing with serious damage to their homes and livelihoods. And to those of you in Louisiana, if you need help, this is what you can do. If you need a low-interest disaster loan to help cover the cost of physical and financial damage, small business owners in Louisiana can call the Small Business Administration at 800-659-2955. If you need to get connected with a Red Cross caseworker for recovery planning and help with finances, call 1-800-733-2767, and that line is open 24-7. If you can't reach your homeowners insurance, take a picture of the damage and call the Louisiana Department of Insurance at 1-800-259- 5300. And if you can't reach those numbers but you know you need to reach those numbers--for example, you need to reach the SBA, but they are not picking up; the Red Cross, somehow, is not connecting; the Louisiana Department of Insurance, ``Hey, I need somebody to pick up the phone,'' then you can call my office at 225-929-7711. In the meantime, anything I can do to bring Federal resources to bear on our State, I will do it. So as recovery efforts continue, I ask colleagues to keep these families--which we know, at some point in time, may be similar to a family in your State--in your thoughts. For them, the work of rebuilding remains. ____________________