After Touring Flood Ravaged Snohomish County, WA, Cantwell Touts Importance of Weather Alerts and Forecasts

Today, after touring multiple sites in Washington’s Snohomish County affected by this week’s historic flooding, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) spoke about the crucial role that weather forecasts play in ensuring communities are prepared for major weather events and protecting life and property.
“We need to communicate [about] preparedness across the nation. We do see fires, we do see floods, we do see hurricanes, we see tornadoes,”said Sen. Cantwell.“It starts with that weather forecasting, having the best weather forecasting, having those people translate that days, if not weeks, in advance. And that's the key thing, is to have it weeks in advance, if you can, and then everybody else goes into action.”
“And I think that's what we've learned here. Give the community the tools, and the community will respond.”
Video of Sen. Cantwell’s comments is availableHERE, and a full transcriptHERE. Photos from her visit are availableHERE.
While this week’s flooding has damaged homes and closed roads, and required dozens of emergency rescues, thankfully no loss of life has been reported due to flooding. Sadly, one person was killed this week near Carnation when a tree fell on her car and officials attribute that to the ongoing heavy sustained rains and winter storms.
Sen. Cantwell, who is ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Finance Committee, has been sounding the alarm about the real, tangible impacts of budget cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service by the Trump Administration, and how stripping the agency of resources actively puts Americans in danger, especially in the face of increasingly frequent and intense extreme weather events. In July, she sent aletterto President Donald Trump outlining her five-point plan to bolster the United States’ weather readiness. More details about each of Sen. Cantwell’s recommendations to President Trump can be foundHERE.
In June, Sen. Cantwelljoinedrenowned meteorologists from across the country for a virtual presser to sound the alarm on cuts at NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS), and called on the Trump Administration to restore the agency to full capacity. In February, Sen. Cantwell voted against confirming Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, citing – among other issues – his“tepid support”for NOAA. She thensent a letterto Lutnick directly following his confirmation calling on him to exempt the NWS from the federal hiring freeze, and protect all NOAA workers from firings "that would jeopardize the safety of the American public."
Last week, Sen. Cantwellsentaletterto Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-TX) requesting that the Committee hold an oversight hearing to examine the weather readiness challenges currently facing the National Weather Service, as well as the agency’s progress in filling key vacancies. In July, the Office of Personnel Management granted NWS permission to hire 450 mission critical positions to help fill the 550 staff vacancies created just this year, but the Committee has yet to receive any responses to their requests about the status of filling those vacancies.