small trailers which were brought in cost approximately $20 million; $226 million in SBA business loans and $389 million in SBA home loans were brought into the community; $197 million in individual and family grants and $25.5 million in emergency food stamps were also issued. Disaster employee assistance was some $12 million and crisis counseling and other costs bring the total to an astronomical sum. In addition, a FEMA loan of $10.3 million provided to the city to assist in the tremendous decrease in our ad valorem tax base and other revenue losses such as utility and water supply revenues was forgiven in 1997. Even though our community continues to rebuild with the courage that saw us through that disaster, because of the demographic changes and other issues such as the closing of the Air Force base, we project at least a 10 year build out to return to the prosperity that we once knew. Obviously, basic economic assistance for areas such as Homestead comes through Federal and State governments in order to develop the opportunity for private industry and the sector to grow. I certainly do not claim to be a scientist. Nor do I understand the complexity of global weather. However I do speak with authority on the tremendous cost of natural disasters. It is my sincerest hope that, with the sophisticated resources available to you and with your obvious concern for the health, safety, and welfare of the people of the United States, that decisions will be made to protect Homestead and all of the Homesteads across this Nation. I thank you for the opportunity to be here and God bless you. [The prepared statement of Ms. Perry follows:] CITY OF HOMESTEAD, FLORIDA 790 N. HOMESTEAD BOULEVARD/HOMESTRAD, FLORIDA 33030/TELEPHONE. (305) 247-1801 STEVT. SHIVER. Mavor JEITREY D. PORTED. Vice-Mayor JOHN P. ASMAR. City Manager COUNCIL MEMBERS: ELIZA D DIDDY Committee on Government Reform and Oversight Mr. Chairman, Committee Members: Please accept my gratitude for the privilege of being here to speak with you on the tremendously grave issue of the economic impact of natural disasters. I am particularly grateful that this august group is addressing an issue which has changed the face of my community for all time. I believe that in many ways Homestead, Florida, represents Small Town America. As an elected official, now serving my fifth term as Councilwoman and, as a citizen of this community, I want to share briefly with you the tremendous impact emotionally, physically and economically of Hurricane Andrew, and the simple fact that without the tremendous assistance from the Federal Government, I believe that my community would not have survived. In August of 1992 Homestead underwent instant suburban renewal. We had 22 sq. miles of complete devastation; 30 billion dollars in total property damage; 17 billion dollars estimated insured losses; 300,000 people were evacuated; 300,000 jobs were lost; between 4,000 and 5,000 businesses were destroyed or damaged - many never to return. Thirty years worth of debris was created by this single storm. COF Because of the devastation at Homestead Air Force Basc we have lost 65,999 active military jobs, 21,115 civilian on base jobs, 4,700 military related off base jobs, and some 43 million dollars annually in military related economic impact. The argument, of course, can be made that with national closing of bases, Homestead Air Force Base realignment was probably inevitable. However, when this occurs overnight there is no time for economic preparation. A second source of our economic strength is agriculture. Some 1 billion dollars in total damage to our tropical fruits, vegetable crops, foliage and nursery industry led to several years of decrease in production and obviously in jobs. Homestead enjoys a unique location nestled between two of our Nation's most beautiful parks and the - natural splendor of the Florida Keys. Though the Keys blessedly escaped damage, both of our National parks, Biscayne and Everglades, were devastated and have just reopened within the last few years for ecotourism. Public schools, libraries, health facilities and our local hospital were all damaged severely, not only exacting a dollar cost, but loss of services was critical during this time. Now let's talk a little bit about disaster response. Numbers tell the story of devastation, but the response numbers tell the story of hope. As of July of 1993, some 2 billion, 110 million dollars in government assistance had flowed into my community. The immediate response cost of military salaries and emergency supplies was some 207 million dollars. 107.6 million dollars in temporary housing vouchers were issued; the mobile homes and trailers which were brought in cost approximately 20 million dollars; 226 million dollars in SBA business loans and 389 million dollars in SBA home loans came into the community; 187.3 million dollars in individual and family grants and HOMESTEAD, FLORIDA - 2 25.8 million dollars in emergency food stamps were also issued; disaster employment Even though our community continues to rebuild, with the courage that saw us through this disaster, because of demographic changes and other issues such as the closing of the Air Force Base, we project at least a ten year build out to return to the prosperity we once knew. Obviously, basic economic assistance for arcas such as Homestead comes through the Federal and State governments in order to develop opportunities for private sector growth. I do not have any claim to be a scientist, nor do I understand the complexity of global weather. However, I do speak with authority on the tremendous cost of natural disasters. It is my sincerest hope that with the sophisticated resources available to you, and with your obvious concern for the health, safety, and welfare of the people of the United States, decisions will be made to protect Homestead and of all the "Homesteads" across this great Nation. I thank you for this opportunity and may God bless you all. Mr. MCINTOSH. Thank you, Ms. Perry. Thank you for coming up and testifying. Certainly, no one in Congress and I think no one in this country would want that terrible act of God, if you will, or natural disaster of a hurricane to reach any of our communities and we appreciate the heroic efforts that you and the leaders in Homestead have put to rebuilding your community in that. And I do thank you for coming here today to share with us some of the impacts that climate can have on very real people. I don't have any questions for you, for the record. Let me see if Mr. Tierney does. Mr. TIERNEY. Two. Just two very brief ones. I thank you also for coming and sharing your perspective with us. There's a study from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that was published in the February issue of Science magazine that concluded that climate change may make hurricanes worse. As for the Pacific Ocean, wind speed in hurricanes will increase about 5 percent to 12 percent, if the sea surface is warmed 4 degrees Fahrenheit. Similarly, a study by Dr. Mark Sonders of the University College in London found that sea surface temperatures in 1995 were the highest on record in the tropical North Atlantic. That year, 19 tropical storms and hurricanes, double the 1946 to 1995 average, formed in the Atlantic. Dr. Sonders concluded that warmer seas encouraged incipient hurricanes to develop by infusing them with more energy. Temperatures in the region of hurricanes birthed between 10 degrees and 20 degrees North Latitude have remained above average since 1995. In 1995, you also saw the highest average global temperatures on record and some scientists say that this raises the possibility that global warming is already contributing to the increased frequency of hurricanes. Now I know that that information, together with your comments about your insurance commissioner and the concerns that they had, I would guess that, to some degree at least, you share the concern of the scientists and the insurance companies about global warming. Is that fair to say, one of the reasons Ms. PERRY. Congressman, I don't think we can afford not to share those concerns. Mr. TIERNEY. All right. Ms. PERRY. The cost otherwise is tremendous. Mr. TIERNEY. And I just want to say that I agree with you. I think that part of this, the chairman's hearing on this, hopefully will direct us toward some idea of trying to find out, you know, what those concerns are and how we should address them just because of the devastating consequences that could result. I thank you for helping us highlight that and for coming here today. Ms. PERRY. Thank you. Mr. TIERNEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. MCINTOSH. Thank you, Mr. Tierney. I'd also ask unanimous consent just to put in the record some information from the WEFA, Inc., on what the economic impact of the treaty is in Florida, just so we'll be able to put that into context. [The information referred to follows:] |