The National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program: Strengthening Windstorm Hazard Mitigation
Opening Statement By Chairman David Wu
Good morning, and welcome to today’s hearing on The National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program: Strengthening Windstorm Hazard Mitigation. This is an incredibly important topic. Every year, severe winds from hurricanes, tornadoes, and thunderstorms damage or destroy thousands of homes and businesses, harm vital infrastructure, and, most importantly, threaten human life. An average of 60 Americans have died in tornadoes each year since 1996, but 2008 is already proving to be one of the deadliest years on record for wind-related fatalities, with over 100 Americans killed in tornadoes this spring alone. And we cannot forget the more than 1,000 people who lost their lives in Hurricane Katrina. Dollar amounts vary widely on the extent of property damage and economic losses from windstorms, but since 2004, economic windstorms have cost the country well over $160 billion.
We in the Northwest were reminded last December that no part of the country is safe from windstorms. On December 1st a Pacific storm brought hurricane-force winds and heavy rain to the Oregon and Washington coasts. Tragically, five people died in that storm. Thousands of people were left with damaged homes and vital infrastructure, including communications and electrical systems, were badly damaged. Insurance claims for Oregon for non-flood related damage were over $70 million and local and state officials have sought $53 million in federal money to help repair damaged infrastructure. Knowing that these types of storms will certainly strike again, we must do more to prevent the loss of life and property.
Today we will discuss the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program, or NWIRP. Created by Congress in 2004 to help reduce devastating losses from windstorms, NWIRP directs four federal agencies – FEMA, NOAA, NSF, and NIST – to conduct coordinated R&D on the nature of windstorms and their effects and on ways to mitigate their impact. The program also calls on these agencies to facilitate technology transfer to make sure that beneficial research is put into practice. Since passage of the enacting legislation, the program has done little to address this very sizable problem. Unfortunately, NWIRP has received little attention from the administration in terms of both funding and coordination. NWIRP expires this fiscal year, and if we are to reauthorize it, we will need to discuss how it can be changed to ensure it meets its goals of improving the safety of Americans by increasing the protection from wind hazards.
Damage from storms is projected to increase as a greater number of Americans move to coastal areas. However, we are not completely powerless to reduce the losses from windstorms. Known mitigation techniques can greatly decrease the amount of wind damage – in some cases by as much as 50 to 60 percent.
I look forward to our witness’ comments on improving the National Windstorm Impact Reduction program. I also hope they can suggest how we can improve the utilization of existing windstorm mitigation technologies and practices.
I now recognize the Subcommittee Ranking Member, Dr. Gingrey, for his opening statement.
Witnesses
Panel
1 - Dr. Sharon Hays
Associate Director Office of Science and Technology Policy Executive Office of the President Office of Science and Technology Policy Executive Office of the Pre
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2 - Dr. Marc Levitan
Director, Louisiana Hurricane Research Center Louisiana State University Louisiana State University
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3 - Ms. Leslie Chapman Henderson
Director Federal Alliance for Safe Homes Federal Alliance for Safe Homes
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4 - Dr. Timothy A. Reinhold, Ph.D., PE
Senior Vice President for Research and Chief Engineer Institute for Business & Home Safety Institute for Business & Home Safety
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