{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.schatz.senate.gov/news/press-releases/schatz-climate-change-is-why-disasters-are-piling-up", "Schatz: Climate Change is Why Disasters are Piling Up", "2026-09-24", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "HI", "Brian Schatz", "S001194", "www.schatz.senate.gov", "schatz", "https://www.schatz.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Video of Senator Schatz\u2019s Remarks Available Here\n\nWASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai\u2018i) spoke on the Senate floor about recent storms in Hawai\u2018i and the warming planet\u2019s role in making disasters more frequent and severe. Schatz highlighted the damage and disruption caused by Hurricanes Lala and Lowell in recent weeks and the need for the federal government to help communities across the country not just respond to, but also prepare for, disasters as they occur more often.\n\n\u201cIn recent weeks, Hawai\u2018i experienced two separate hurricanes which destroyed homes and roads, closed schools and offices, and left thousands of people in the dark. 90 percent of the island of Kaua\u2018i lost power during Hurricane Lowell earlier this month \u2013 that\u2019s how extensive the damage was \u2013 and crews are still working to restore power. People on Hawai\u2018i Island, meanwhile, are still picking up the pieces from Hurricane Lala last month which damaged 267 homes; washed out roads, bridges, and even a cemetery; and left people without water and power. And now, the state is bracing for yet another storm,\u201d said Senator Schatz.\n\n\u201cThere is a reason these destructive disasters are piling up one after another, leaving communities exhausted and governments depleted. It\u2019s the warming planet,\u201d Senator Schatz added. \u201cDisasters used to be an unfortunate reality you had to deal with from time to time. Now, we\u2019re getting back-to-back hurricanes on top of historic floods that dumped more than two trillion gallons of water on the state earlier this year and catastrophic fires that leveled Lahaina three years ago. That is not normal.\u201d\n\nA transcript of Senator Schatz\u2019s remarks is below. Video is available here.\n\nIn recent weeks, Hawai\u2018i experienced two separate hurricanes which destroyed homes and roads, closed schools and offices, and left thousands of people in the dark. 90 percent of the island of Kaua\u2018i lost power during Hurricane Lowell earlier this month \u2013 that\u2019s how extensive the damage was \u2013 and crews are still working to restore power. People on Hawai\u2018i Island meanwhile are still picking up the pieces from Hurricane Lala last month which damaged 267 homes; washed out roads, bridges, and even a cemetery; and left people without water and power. And now, the state is bracing for yet another storm. According to the National Hurricane Center this one could bring \u201clife-threatening, catastrophic flooding and mudslides\u201d across parts of Hawai\u2018i Island and Maui. It has been one storm after another this year.\n\nWe grieve those who died in the storms. And as always, we\u2019re so grateful to the neighbors, first responders, linemen, and state and local officials who have been working together to help people in need. In the hours after the storms, people brought over shovels to clear debris from streets and driveways and checked in on neighbors while their own power was out. And in the days following, crews worked around the clock to restore power as quickly as possible. That\u2019s what we do in Hawai\u2018i\u2026we take care of each other. That\u2019s the aloha spirit. And as response gives way to recovery, we will do everything we can to make sure federal support is available for as long as it\u2019s needed.\n\nBut today, I want to talk about something I\u2019ve been reluctant to raise in my 14 years in the United States Senate. And that\u2019s that there is a reason these destructive disasters are piling up one after another, leaving communities exhausted and governments depleted. It\u2019s the warming planet.\n\nNow, look, when someone\u2019s sitting in the dark without power for days, or worse, they\u2019ve lost a loved one or their home, they don\u2019t want to hear about how drier fields and warmer oceans are the culprits for their pain. And they\u2019re right. In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, our collective obligation \u2013 but especially the government\u2019s obligation \u2013 is to set politics aside and help. Not to make a point you\u2019ve always wanted to make or say, \u201cI told you so,\u201d but to help. And so I\u2019ve always hesitated talking about disasters in this context.\n\nBut the reason I feel so strongly that it\u2019s time we named the problem, as uncomfortable as it is, is that we can\u2019t go on like this. Disasters used to be an unfortunate reality you had to deal with from time to time. Now, we\u2019re getting back-to-back hurricanes on top of historic floods that dumped more than 2 trillion gallons of water on the state earlier this year and catastrophic fires that leveled Lahaina 3 years ago. That is not normal.\n\nNow, it\u2019s true that we\u2019re in an El Ni\u00f1o year, and a particularly bad one at that. But this isn\u2019t isolated to just this year nor is it limited to just Hawai\u2018i. For three years in a row now, we\u2019ve had more than 20 disasters nationwide, each costing over a billion dollars in damages. And the world\u2019s eight hottest months ever on record have all been in the past three years. You can chalk that all up to being a terrible coincidence \u2013 maybe it\u2019s the weather fairy acting up. Or, you can trust your own eyes. Because we all see it and feel it.\n\nYou feel it when you go to the park and your kids can\u2019t breathe because of smoke from a wildfire that\u2019s burning hundreds of miles away. You feel it when you have to board up your windows and gather up supplies as yet another storm approaches. You feel it when you move to a new state and find out you can\u2019t get home insurance anymore. You don\u2019t need a fancy science degree to understand what\u2019s happening, nor do you need to love the outdoors to want to do something about it. We\u2019re all paying the price for our inaction.\n\nAnd so what do we do about it? The most obvious answer is to scale clean energy and reduce pollution as aggressively as we possibly can. But that\u2019s not going to happen overnight and these disasters are on our doorsteps today. And so we need a plan to help communities prepare for and respond to disasters in the here and now. Improving evacuation routes. Hardening power lines. Pre-positioning equipment and supplies. Making sure people have access to AC and heating. Clearing underbrush to slow or stop fires. Building infrastructure to reduce the risk of flooding. These are the kinds of steps we need to be taking right now to protect people.\n\nMost of my colleagues here know that disasters aren\u2019t a partisan problem. Hurricanes and floods and tornadoes and fires don\u2019t pick and choose their targets based on how the last election went. This week, it\u2019s Hawai\u2018i. It was Texas and Indiana earlier in the summer. It will be somewhere else next. There, but for the grace of God, go I. And so we need to step up here. States and localities are lurching from one disaster to the next, and they need help. And every day Congress pretends like we don\u2019t know what\u2019s happening, more and more people will get hurt.\n\n###", 1, "2026-09-25T10:04:52Z", "2026-09-25T10:05:46Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.schatz.senate.gov/news/press-releases/schatz-climate-change-is-why-disasters-are-piling-up"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5929979272186756, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}