NOAA to decommission "billion-dollar" climate disaster database, a valuable tool for insurers

By Isha Marathe

May 12 - (The Insurer) - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is shuttering its database of billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, a tool the insurance industry uses to track the economic costs of extreme weather events.

The database, which contains information on 403 disasters from 1980 to 2024 where overall damages and costs reached or exceeded $1 billion, will be archived and available via the NOAA website. The database pulls information from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, insurance organizations, state agencies and others.

However, "in alignment with evolving priorities, statutory mandates, and staffing changes, NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) will no longer be updating the Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters product", the NOAA announced on May 8 on its "notice of change" banner.

Mark Friedlander, senior director of media relations at the Insurance Information Institute, said that while the database provides valuable information about the impact of natural disasters, insurers have other mechanisms to track this information.

Additionally, NOAA's billion-dollar database includes total economic losses for major catastrophes, not just insured losses, he said.

"(The) property/casualty industry has its own mechanisms to track insurance-covered losses for weather and climate disaster events," Friedlander said.

"This decision will not impact the availability of property insurance coverage across the country or how storm claims are processed. Insurers will continue to act as financial first responders, helping their customers and communities recover from natural disasters."

The development comes when the federal government has taken steps to cut climate initiatives, including a proposal to remove an entire wing of NOAA in its April budget plan, slashing agency funding by around $1.67 billion, or 27%.

Separately, on May 8, Cameron Hamilton, the acting director of FEMA, was ousted from his position after he told lawmakers in a hearing that he did not support eliminating his agency. He was in the process of helping states and local communities prepare for the onset of hurricane season on June 1.