"WASHINGTON - Democratic Senator Adam Schiff on Tuesday urged Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's acting secretary to restore a database that tracked billion-dollar U.S. disasters.
He said its removal prevented lawmakers, insurance companies and taxpayers from seeing the growing cost of more frequent natural disasters and from planning for future extreme weather events.
NOAA announced last week it was removing the “billion-dollar weather and climate disasters” database from its website "in alignment with evolving priorities," the latest example of the agency ending ongoing scientific datasets.
Schiff, who represents California, also warned that sweeping job cuts at NOAA have left the agency understaffed ahead of hurricane season, which begins June 1, saying that 30 of 122 weather forecast offices at the National Weather Service lack chief meteorologists."
Valerie Volcovici reports for Reuters May 13, 2025.
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