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15h ago

NOAA Ends Billion-Dollar Disaster Database Amid Deep Budget Cuts

The retirement of NOAA's flagship database halts updates on the cost of extreme weather events, reflecting broader staffing reductions and a proposed 24% budget cut targeting climate programs.

Aerial view of destroyed houses in Port St Lucie, Florida, after a tornado hit the area and caused severe damage as Hurricane Milton swept through Florida on October 11, 2024. The death toll from Hurricane Milton rose to at least 16 on October 11, 2024, officials in Florida said, as residents began the painful process of piecing their lives and homes back together. Nearly 2.5 million households and businesses were still without power, and some areas in the path cut through the Sunshine State by the monster storm from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean remained flooded. (Photo by Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP) (Photo by MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO/AFP via Getty Images)
FILE - An aerial photo shows the charred homes of Louise Hamlin, center left, and Chris Wilson, center right, after the Eaton Fire in Altadena, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
FILE - Damage from Hurricane Milton is seen at a mobile home community on Manasota Key, in Englewood, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
FILE - Melted metal and burned out cars sit destroyed in a driveway of a home burned by the wildfire that spread through the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Friday, Jan.17, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)

Overview

  • NOAA has officially retired its Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters database, archiving data from 1980 to 2024 but ceasing future updates.
  • The database tracked 403 disasters exceeding $1 billion in damages, totaling over $2.9 trillion in inflation-adjusted costs, and was widely used by researchers, insurers, and policymakers.
  • The decision is tied to staffing reductions, with NOAA cutting 10% of its workforce under the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency initiative.
  • A proposed 24% budget reduction for fiscal year 2026 would further impact NOAA's climate research, grant programs, and satellite systems critical to forecasting and disaster response.
  • Experts warn the database's loss will hinder the ability to analyze disaster cost trends and assess the economic impacts of worsening climate-related events.