Ron meets flood survivors in Pendleton & works on federal aid requests

Ron met last weekend in Pendleton with first responders, local officials and Oregonians hit by the floods that forced residents from their homes and devastated Eastern Oregon communities.

He heard firsthand from city, county and tribal officials as well as the Oregon National Guard and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the Umatilla County Emergency Operations Center on Saturday about their ongoing work to calculate flood damages for applications to federal agencies for help.

“We’re 3,000 miles away from Washington, DC and a lot of times, folks feel like DC might as well be on Mars,” Ron said. “It’s my job to shorten the distance and cut through the red tape to work with the whole congressional delegation and the governor to step up and help.”

Later on Saturday, he went to the Red Cross shelter to thank volunteers for their round-the-clock work helping Oregonians seeking shelter from the floodwaters.

And on Sunday morning, he met with survivors of the floods that clobbered the Riverside neighborhood in Pendleton.

“This is going to be a challenge for a while, but this is all about the Oregon Way where everybody comes together,” he said on Sunday. “What I saw and heard this weekend in Pendleton was flood devastation but also a story of neighbors helping neighbors and a real tribute to the hardworking first responders, local leaders and volunteers who all pitched in to keep people safe in Eastern Oregon.

“I am all in on the hard work ahead to help them and all of Eastern Oregon get the federal resources needed to recover from this historic flood,” he said.

Ron’s Pendleton meetings came after his Wasco County town hall on Saturday morning in The Dalles.