NOAA Mandates New Public Database to Track Every Billion-Dollar Disaster Annually

The Measuring the Cost of Disasters Act of 2025 is pretty straightforward: it mandates that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) create and maintain a public, centralized database and website dedicated to tracking every “billion-dollar disaster” that hits the U.S. annually. This isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a required, permanent resource. The bill defines a “billion-dollar disaster” as any storm or severe weather event causing $1,000,000,000 or more in total direct and market costs, calculated by NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Putting the Price Tag on Weather

For anyone trying to understand how climate and weather events are hitting the national wallet, this bill standardizes the data. The new database must be updated at least every six months and include the estimated cost, the type of disaster (e.g., hurricane, wildfire, flood), the location, and the dates it occurred. Think of it as a transparent ledger for catastrophic weather. This is crucial for local governments and small businesses trying to plan for the next big event, or for homeowners assessing risk when buying insurance.

Bringing Back the Visuals

One of the most useful requirements is that the new webpage must feature visual tools—specifically, graphs and mapping tools that show disaster trends over time and geographic distribution. For policy wonks and researchers, this is a big deal because the bill explicitly states these tools must be “similar or identical” to the ones NCEI previously ran from 1980 through 2024. Essentially, this legislation ensures that a valuable, data-rich resource that had been available to the public and researchers is formally restored and maintained. If you’re a city planner or a supply chain manager, being able to quickly visualize where and how often billion-dollar events are happening is invaluable for infrastructure planning and risk assessment.

The Fine Print on Flexibility

The Administrator of NOAA is given some flexibility. First, they have the option to include disasters that didn't quite hit the billion-dollar mark if they think the information is appropriate. This could be useful for tracking a cluster of smaller, high-cost events that collectively have a massive impact. Second, the Administrator is also granted the power to include “Any other disaster-related information the Administrator deems appropriate.” While this grants the agency necessary discretion to add context, it’s a provision worth noting because it gives the Administrator significant control over what supplemental information makes it onto the public site. Finally, the bill ensures that all the historical data from the previous NCEI database (1980–2024) must be maintained and updated for archiving and research purposes, guaranteeing continuity for long-term studies.