Flood Level Observation, Operations, and Decision Support Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. SHERRILL. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of S. 558, the ``Flood Level Observation, Operations, and Decision Support Act,'' or ``FLOODS Act.''

I am the proud sponsor of H.R. 1438, the House companion to the ``FLOODS Act'' being considered today. In New Jersey, we are all too familiar with the devastation of flooding both from historic weather events like Hurricane Irene, Superstorm Sandy, and most recently Tropical Storm Ida, as well as more localized high-intensity rainfall events that don't get headlines, like the five inches of sudden rainfall that caused flash flooding in Parsippany, New Jersey, last October. Protecting our communities from these events, both large and small, means giving our forecasters, local planners, and first responders up-to-date data on where to expect precipitation and flooding and in what amounts.

Sadly, my constituents know the life-and-death impact of not having precise and accurate information ahead of flooding. When we experienced horrendous flooding in the wake of Tropical Storm Ida, we tragically lost 27 lives across New Jersey. In Woodland Park in my district, a woman was swept away by the flooding--brave residents at the scene tried to rescue her, but the current was too strong and they themselves had to be rescued. In another part of my district, I heard from a mother who, along with her young children, had to be rescued from her home late at night during Ida after she had been told only hours earlier that the storm would pass well to the west of her home. Knowing the precise location of precipitation and likely flooding makes all the difference.

As Chairwoman of the Science Committee's Subcommittee on Environment, I have examined how to prevent flooding from occurring and how to be resilient to flooding that does occur. However, while mitigation and resiliency solutions such as nature-based infrastructure can help address these issues, they cannot fix the root issue of flood prevention without the data necessary to map and estimate the location and nature of the flooding threat. This bill provides vital data and tools to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and ultimately to local stakeholders.

The FLOODS Act establishes a National Integrated Flood Information System that improves the coordination and integration of flood research at NOAA, designates a service coordination hydrologist at each National Weather Service River Forecast Center, and leverages existing work across NOAA to improve timely decision making related to flooding events. Further, it improves observations and modeling for total water prediction--a crucial component to understanding mechanisms that cause flooding--through partnerships with other federal agencies and academia. This bill continues to develop the nations' STEM workforce by creating a fellowship for graduate students in hydrologic fields to work at federal agencies. Additionally. this bill takes steps to improve coordination and communication for hurricane forecasts, tornado warnings. and other extreme weather events.

But one of the most important things needed to improve resilience to flooding is accurate estimation of precipitation. This bill directs NOAA to update its precipitation frequency estimates, known as Atlas 14. Atlas 14 estimates are essential for protecting lives and taxpayer dollars, as they directly assist emergency planning. Atlas 14 estimates are often based on precipitation data records that are in many cases decades old. We worked closely with our colleagues on the Senate Commerce Committee to reconcile the Atlas 14 language in this bill and another bill I led this Congress, H.R. 1437, the PRECIP Act. The importance of making updates to Atlas 14--and subsequently keeping those estimates up-to-date--has become more apparent. even since we first introduced this bill. We encourage NOAA to update the Atlas 14 estimates as frequently as practicable, more often than the 10-year minimum requirement in this bill. And as the impacts of climate change on extreme precipitation become impossible to ignore, we further encourage the agency to consider assumptions of non-stationarity when developing Atlas 14 estimates, in line with the language in my PRECIP Act as introduced.

It is important, now more than ever, to have authoritative data and a coordinated response to flooding events as the climate crisis worsens for New Jerseyans, and the entire nation. The measures in this legislation are essential to protect our homes and families from flooding risks. I urge my colleagues to support the passage of this bill so we can send it to the President's desk.

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