NOAA's FY 1999 budget request includes $55.0 million for important new
activities that will reduce the costs of natural hazards as part of the
Natural Disaster Reduction Initiative (NDRI). NDRI is an interagency effort
to reduce and mitigate the direct and indirect costs of natural disasters.
Developed through the National Science and Technology Council's Committee
on Environment and Natural Resources (CENR), this Initiative is part of the
Administration's effort to apply the tools of federal agencies (including
NOAA, EDA and NIST within the Department of Commerce) to save lives, reduce
the costs and lower the risks of natural disasters.
Natural hazards include severe weather (hurricanes, tornadoes, winter
storms, heat, droughts and floods), geophysical activity (volcanoes,
earthquakes and tsunamis), and extreme biological events (e.g., harmful
algal blooms, nonindigenous species, persistent hypoxia). Natural hazards
threaten lives, property, natural resources and the stability of local and
regional economies throughout the United States.
The costs of weather-related disasters have doubled or tripled each decade
over the last 35 years. Weather-related natural disasters alone have taken
lives, damaged property and produced other costs averaging at least $50
billion per year or roughly $1 billion per week over the last few years.
Each year inland flooding claims an average of 131 lives and causes
property losses in excess of $3.5 billion. In the first nine months of
1997, floods claimed more than 80 lives and resulted in $6.0 billion in
damages in the U.S. Other natural hazards such as harmful algal blooms and
the spread of introduced species every year result in lost revenues for
fishing and tourism industries.
These reported costs are just a fraction of the actual costs from natural
hazards. The actual costs include damages to natural resources, loss of
landfill capacity, loss of wages and productivity, and threats to public
health. The costs of natural hazards are projected to increase if steps are
not taken to help communities reduce their vulnerability and prevent
natural hazards from becoming natural disasters. These increasing costs are
of great concern to government agencies, the private sector and the public.
NOAA's FY 1999 request will provide new activities in two critical areas to
lower the impacts and costs of natural hazards. These activities include:
(1) providing the best possible warnings and information to prevent damage
and permit escape during hazard events, and (2) providing information and
techniques to lower the vulnerability and increase the resiliency of people
and property before and after hazard events.
NOAA's request will provide more accurate and timely warnings and forecasts
for weather-related and other natural disasters and provide information on
the risks and costs of natural disasters in the nation's valuable coastal
communities, some of the areas hardest hit by natural hazards. The increase
will also provide techniques to mitigate the impacts of natural hazards,
measures to reduce the introduction and spread of nonindigenous species
that threaten coastal fisheries, and research for dealing with other
coastal hazards such as harmful algal blooms and the growing hypoxic "dead"
zone in the Gulf of Mexico.
A large and diverse group of industry and government partners is depending
on NOAA and other Commerce bureaus to take the lead in reducing the risks
and costs associated with natural hazards. NOAA's contributions to the NDRI
will save lives, reduce costs, help prevent damages to property and natural
resources, and allow NOAA to fulfill its responsibilities related to
natural disasters in the Federal Natural Disaster Mitigation Strategy and
the National Invasive Species Act.