Wyden, Merkley, Colleagues Announce Bill to Restore NOAA’s Extreme Weather Database, Keep Americans Informed of Natural Disasters

Wyden, Merkley, Colleagues Announce Bill to Restore NOAA's Extreme Weather Database, Keep Americans Informed of Natural Disasters

Bill would reverse the Trump Administration's reckless decision to terminate database which has recorded cost of natural disasters since 1980

Washington D.C.-U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley said today they have joined senate colleagues to introduce legislation that would reverse the Trump Administration's reckless decision to terminate the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) extreme weather database which has been vital to keeping families, researchers, and policy makers informed on the cost of natural disasters.

The Measuring the Cost of Disasters Act would require NOAA to restore and maintain the Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters database, which collects and makes public information on natural disasters resulting in at least $1 billion in damage each year in the United States.

"Whether it's wildfires in Oregon or flooding in Texas hill country, deadly weather events have become a way of life for too many Americans," Wyden said. "While Donald Trump forces his anti-science agenda on the American people and kneecaps federal emergency response, I'm all in to help communities better prepare for and respond to natural disasters. I'm proud to cosponsor the Measuring the Cost of Disasters Act to restore critical information for states and communities to do just that."

"Oregonians know all too well the threat of climate chaos, which is fueling increasingly frequent and severe weather events that threaten our homes, businesses, and way of life," said Merkley. "Trump's move to terminate NOAA's extreme weather tracker will just add to the devastation communities face. Having a complete understanding of the cost of natural disasters allows us to make smarter decisions about how to make our infrastructure more resilient to protect our communities. I'll keep fighting for Oregonians to have the resources needed to respond to extreme weather and ensure that we have the data to act."

Since 1980, NOAA has maintained a database of all weather disasters in the United States totaling at least $1 billion in damage. The Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters database has been essential in tracking how an exponential increase in climate-driven natural disasters over the last two decades has raised costs associated with disaster recovery. The database has also helped communities and lawmakers more effectively allocate resources before extreme weather events.

In 2024, the United States experienced 27 individual weather and climate disasters over $1 billion in damages, totaling more than $182.7 billion-the fourth highest on record behind 2017, 2005, and 2022. As the severity and cost of natural disasters continue to rise, research tracking the type and frequency of extreme weather events is crucial to ensuring the efficient allocation of resources and effective resilience strategies.

However, in May 2025, the Trump Administration discontinued the Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters database as part of its efforts to destroy programs and research related to climate change. Cancelling this publicly available database threatens emergency preparedness, undercuts science research vital to fighting climate change, and weakens national and community-level efforts to reduce the cost of disasters.

The legislation was introduced by U.S. Senator Peter Welch, D-Vt. In addition to Wyden and Merkley, the legislation is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Jack Reed, D-R.I., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Michael Bennet, D-Colo., Cory Booker, D-N.J., Tina Smith, D-Minn., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M..

A full text of the bill is here.