RAA warns of insurer reliance on NOAA after Trump’s sweeping federal job cuts

By Mia MacGregor

Feb 28 - (The Insurer) - A leading industry association has warned of the insurance sector's long-term reliance on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration after it was hit by widespread job cuts by the Trump administration.

The NOAA is among several federal agencies to have been targeted as part of the administration’s efforts to streamline government operations under the newly established Department of Government Efficiency, led by entrepreneur Elon Musk.

NOAA monitors and predicts changes in weather, climate and ocean conditions, providing essential data for emergency responders and policymakers, and the move has prompted warnings that it will increase the vulnerability of the U.S. to extreme weather events.

In a statement to The Insurer, Frank Nutter, president of the Reinsurance Association of America, said: “I know of no other federal entity that facilitates greater economic and commercial activity than NOAA and its weather data."

“The insurance industry has a long-standing reliance on NOAA for data to improve insurability and to help policyholders and communities improve mitigation to reduce property damage.”

He highlighted several critical datasets provided by NOAA, including the Storm Events Database, Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD), International Best Track Archive (IBTrACS) and Hurricane Satellite (HURSAT) for tracking past and present hurricanes.

He also pointed to NOAA’s “Billion-Dollar Disasters” research, its events catalog for predicting future storm damage, and wind and hail climatology data.

“NOAA is the critical source of information related to data analysis and underwriting for the commercial and residential property insurance markets,” he added.

Protests took place outside NOAA offices in multiple U.S. cities on Monday to protest against the mass firing of employees within the federal agency.

Several other federal agencies have also been hit by job cuts, including the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the U.S. Geological Survey.

CISA plays a significant role in national cybersecurity, working to detect and prevent cyber threats through information sharing, protective technologies and incident response capabilities.

The agency also provides essential infrastructure support, assists state and local governments and offers cybersecurity risk management tools.

Meanwhile, USGS, a science bureau within the Department of the Interior, is responsible for monitoring earthquakes, assessing hazards and conducting seismic research under the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program.