In a hearing on “Extreme Weather Events: The Cost of Not Being Prepared,” the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs committees were told the nation needs to invest in improving resilience to the impact of climate change and extreme weather events.
Extreme weather events—such as wildfires, droughts, tornados, flooding and snow storms—have resulted in multibillion dollar disasters, and many states are unprepared.
“Trends such as the impacts of climate change, the vulnerability of aging infrastructure, and increasing population density in high-risk areas increase the risk of disasters,” David Heyman, assistant secretary at the Office of Policy for the Department of Homeland Security, said. “With changing climate and development patterns and the severity and frequency of extreme weather events increasing, the U.S. cannot afford to leave homes, communities and critical infrastructure vulnerable.”
Heyman noted that 98-presidentially-declared disasters occurred in fiscal year 2011.
Last year, the Government Accountability Office listed climate change as one of the largest fiscal risks facing the nation, according to Agri-Pulse.