Candidates for Congress discuss the responses to recent severe weather by elected officials, and where they were at the time of the storms.
Two months ago, people in many towns were caught off guard by historic flooding.
Now it’s becoming an election issue in the 5th District.
Rep. Jahana Hayes, (D - 5th District), is defending her response in the aftermath of the storm as her Republican opponent, George Logan, argues she should have returned to Connecticut sooner.
Hayes flew to Chicago for the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 18th, hours before a storm brought historic rain and flooding to several towns, many of which are in her 5th District.
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Hayes said she was unable to get a flight back in the immediate aftermath and felt she could do more to help the district talking to local and federal officials who were also in Chicago.
“That's what people need is action, they need our legislators and lawmakers to do the job that they were elected to do,” Hayes said during an Aug. 9th debate.
Logan, though, said people want contact with their elected officials after a major event.
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“It's important when there is a disaster, when a tragedy strikes that the people in their community know that their leaders are there for them,” he said.
He noted other elected Democrats did visit some of the affected towns the day after the storm.
Gov. Ned Lamont (D) took a private plane back from his vacation in Maine to assess the damage before flying to Chicago.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, (D - Connecticut), also visited some of the towns before going to the convention.
“If she wanted to come back, she would have come back,” Logan said.
Hayes’ campaign shared text messages from some of her staffers showing difficulty getting a flight back to Connecticut the day after the storm.
Hayes said that was part of the reason she decided to stay in Chicago, where she met up with the Connecticut delegation to push for help from FEMA.
Blumenthal also had several public events with residents in the aftermath of the storm. Hayes said she focused her efforts on meeting with public officials to get them the help they needed. “My job is not to post on twitter or take pictures, it's to get the people the help that they need,” she said during the Oct. 9 debate.
The New York Post Tuesday reported that Hayes also spent thousands of dollars on a campaign fundraiser on Martha’s Vineyard while residents recovered from the storm.
NBC Connecticut viewed invitations and photos verifying Hayes’ trip to Martha’s Vineyard happened earlier in August, before the storm and flooding in Connecticut.
Some of the expenses were not paid until late August or early September, according to a Federal Election Commission filing.
