I am pleased to be here today to join with my fellow County Executives to testify on behalf of those citizens most in need of help from the State.
When Hurricane Isabel cut a path through Maryland, the effects were devastating. In some cases the storm surge exceeded the five hundred year flood boundary, and two hundred and fifty homes in eastern Baltimore County sustained damage over fifty percent of the value of the home.
But the strength of the storm was no match for the strength of our residents. In the days after the storm I - and many of you - saw first-hand the pride in our waterfront communities. Residents pulled together to clean up and to rebuild.
These are unique and tightly connected communities, and they are a part of the character of the State of Maryland.
The residents of our waterfront communities have never asked for handouts. They have made the best of difficult circumstances, and many have been able to rebuild.
But many have not.
There are residents of eastern Baltimore County who have lived in the same house for decades, who worked and saved and built communities. Many of them do not have the resources to rebuild their homes. If these citizens are forced to leave their homes, we lose more than waterfront residents. We lose the communities they built.
I believe in House Bill Three. Giving our citizens the opportunity to rebuild is essential, and this bill will have an immediate and positive impact on the State of Maryland. Tomorrow, Baltimore County will release the insurance study and findings of the Larsen Work Group, which I believe support the passage of House Bill Three, and the need for measures like it.
I would like to thank House Speaker Busch, who is from Anne Arundel County and knows first-hand how destructive the hurricane was, for sponsoring this legislation. And I would also like to thank the bill's co-sponsor, Delegate McIntosh, who looked beyond the flooding in her own district in Baltimore City and found a way to help all the citizens of Maryland.
Baltimore County supports House Bill Three, and we look forward to seeing it signed into law.
Revised March 22, 2004
Courthouse 