Press Releases
March 27, 2009
FEMA Head Joins Conrad to Inspect Flood Fight Efforts
Army Corps Leader, FEMA Administrator Travel to ND at Senator's Invitation
Fargo –With fresh warnings that floodwaters could rise to dangerous levels, Senator Kent Conrad returned home to North Dakota today with Acting FEMA Administrator Nancy Ward and Brigadier General Michael Walsh, commander of the Mississippi Valley Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineersto inspect a wide-ranging response that includes urgent efforts to erect temporary floodwalls, raise sandbag dikes and move vulnerable people out of threatened communities.
Administrator Ward and General Walsh accepted Senator Conrad’s invitation to join him in travelling to North Dakota to inspect the flood conditions in the Red River Valley and Bismarck areas.
“Clearly, everything that can be done to protect our homes and businesses must be done,” Senator Conrad said. “Our friends and neighbors have worked hard to protect the city of Fargo and surrounding communities, and we are here working with them. We’re calling in everything we can from the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the Army Corps of Engineers. And while we’re praying the water recedes, we’re also aware that this flood fight is being led by the tens of thousands of volunteers who are working overtime to help sandbag and raise the dikes.”
After an aerial inspection of the situation in the Red River Valley, Senator Conrad reviewed the sandbagging efforts on the ground before aiding volunteers at the Fargodome. The Senator also inspected flood response efforts in Bismarck later in the day.
Earlier this week, the Congressional delegation met with President Barack Obama to deliver an assessment of the situation facing families threatened by flood waters across North Dakota.
In that meeting, President Obama assured the delegation that the federal government stood shoulder to shoulder with North Dakota’s families in the flood fight and the aftermath, saying, ‘whatever we have to do, you can count on us’.”
The delegation also took the opportunity to thank the President for the Administration’s quick response to the state’s emergency disaster declaration. The disaster declaration signed by the President will make federal aid available to state and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis.
Over the last several weeks, the delegation has held meetings in Washington and in North Dakota to help coordinate the federal, state and local response to rising flood waters.
