Biden-Harris Administration, NOAA invest $15 million to help protect Western U.S. communities from wildfire
The Department of Commerce and NOAA announced today that approximately $15 million has been provided through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to construct and deploy a new suite of fire weather observing systems in high-risk locations in the Western United States to support wildfire prediction, detection and monitoring. The investments support four distinct but related components of a regional fire weather observing system that relies on different technologies and approaches with the goal of improving wildfire prediction, detection and monitoring from the regional to local scales. “Catastrophic wildfires threaten the lives and livelihoods of many communities across the country, which is
Biden-Harris Administration Leaders to Join Hawaii Officials and Survivors One Year Following the Devastating Wildfires on Maui
Biden-Harris Administration Leaders to Join Hawaii Officials and Survivors One Year Following the Devastating Wildfires on Maui WASHINGTON -- One year after the devastating wildfires that impacted the people of Maui, White House Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood Randall -- representing President Biden -- FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and U.S. Fire Administrator Dr. Lori Moore Merrell will join county and state officials in Maui to commemorate the anniversary in support of the community. As President Biden made clear last year, the Biden-Harris Administration will continue to do everything in its power to help Maui recover and rebuild the way the people
Biden-Harris Administration invests $250K to develop powerful artificial intelligence tool to assist wildland firefighting through Investing in America agenda
Today, the Department of Commerce and NOAA announced $250,000 in funding to support the development of a powerful new artificial intelligence (AI) model, which will improve fire weather forecasts through better lightning prediction. This funding is part of a larger Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) investment to improve fire weather research from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. “This investment, made possible thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will significantly improve NOAA’s fire weather forecasts while safeguarding firefighters who risk their lives each day to serve Americans impacted by wildland fires,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. With the
Biden-Harris Administration invests $34 million for NOAA fire weather research through Investing in America agenda
Today, the Department of Commerce and NOAA announced the award of more than $34 million to reduce the risk to Americans’ lives and property from wildfires. This funding will be provided over five years to six research universities in NOAA’s Cooperative Institute system to support wildfire preparedness and response as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The overarching goal is to improve the understanding and modeling of wildfire behavior and integrate that into weather forecasting and wildfire warnings. Knowledge and tools generated from this funding will help NOAA build and deploy new observing
Biden-Harris Administration invests $26 million to improve NOAA forecasts of droughts and floods through public-private partnership
Today, the Department of Commerce and NOAA announced that $26 million in funding will be invested over four years in the National Weather Service (NWS) National Mesonet Program and the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) to support the development of a transformative federal-state-private partnership to provide improved early warning for drought, flooding, fire and other natural hazards as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will partner with NOAA on this pilot program. The funds will enable NOAA and USACE to help communities build resilience to
Biden-Harris Administration and FEMA Selects La Jolla Band of the Luiseño Indians
Biden-Harris Administration and FEMA Selects La Jolla Band of the Luiseño Indians OAKLAND, Calif. – FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and Robert J. Fenton today announced that the La Jolla Band of the Luiseño Indians was one of the selections for a combined $150 million in capitalization grants to help communities reduce vulnerability to natural hazards. Funding through the Safeguarding Tomorrow Revolving Loan Fund Program will provide $5.1 million to La Jolla Band of the Luiseño Indians to administer a revolving loan fund that will help governments carry out hazard mitigation projects and build community climate resilience. Through this program, part of