Bennet, Welch, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Restore NOAA’s Extreme Weather Database and Keep Americans Informed of Natural Disasters

Sep 17, 2025| Press Releases

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) joined U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and 12 of their Senate colleagues to introduce the Measuring the Cost of Disasters Act. This bill would reverse the Trump Administration's reckless decision to terminate the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s extreme weather database, which was vital to keeping families, researchers, and policy makers informed on the cost of natural disasters. The legislation would require NOAA to restore and maintain the Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters database, which collects and publishes information on natural disasters resulting in at least $1 billion in damage each year in the United States.

"As wildfires, drought, and floods devastate communities in Colorado and across the country, the research at NOAA has never been more essential," said Bennet. "The Trump administration's abrupt elimination of the billion-dollar disaster database undermines our preparedness, raises recovery costs, and puts communities at even greater risk from extreme weather disasters. The database must be restored immediately to protect lives, property, and affordability."

"The Trump Administration is on the warpath to attack science and wreck any progress we've made to help fight climate change. That includes the President's decision to terminate NOAA's extreme weather tracker, which was vital in sharing information with Vermonters during and after the brutal floods in July of 2023 and 2024. And it's not just Vermont-this database has been absolutely essential in providing information about the cost of building back homes, businesses, and towns across the country after major weather disasters. The reality is that without this tool, we'll be worse off and less informed about how to help our communities recover when natural disasters hit," said Welch. "Our legislation will reverse the Trump Administration's reckless decision and restore this database so crucial to emergency preparedness and reducing costs of natural disasters."

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 is essential in tracking how an exponential increase in climate-driven natural disasters over the last two decades raised costs associated with disaster recovery. The database also helps communities and lawmakers allocate resources before extreme weather events more effectively.

From 1980 to 2024, the Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters database recorded 403 weather and climate disasters resulting in at least $1 billion in damages. Combined, losses from these events exceed $2.9 trillion. Over the same time period, Colorado experienced 76 natural disasters with at least $1 billion in losses each.

In 2024, the United States experienced 27 individual weather and climate disasters with over $1 billion in damage, totaling over $182.7 billion - the fourth-highest year on record behind 2017, 2005, and 2022. Of those disasters, six took place in Colorado. As the severity, frequency, and cost of natural disasters continue to rise, research tracking the type and frequency of extreme weather events is crucial.

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

In addition to Bennet and Welch, U.S. Senators Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) cosponsored the bill.

The text of the bill is available HERE.