42 U.S.C. § 15701 — Findings

Congress made four findings when establishing this program. (1) Hurricanes, tropical storms, tornadoes, and thunderstorms can cause serious loss of life, injuries, property destruction, and economic and social disruption. Every state and region is vulnerable to these hazards. (2) The United States currently loses several billion dollars a year to windstorm damage. In recent decades, fast development and population growth in high-risk areas have made the country much more vulnerable. (3) Better windstorm impact reduction measures could cut these losses through: (A) cost-effective and affordable design and construction methods; (B) effective mitigation programs at the local, state, and national level; (C) better data collection, analysis, and impact-prediction methods; (D) engineering research to improve new buildings and retrofit old ones, atmospheric research to better understand how windstorms behave and affect the built environment, and applying that research; and (E) public education and outreach. (4) There is an appropriate role for the federal government in supporting windstorm impact reduction. An effective federal program needs coordination between agencies, plus input from individuals, academics, the private sector, and other non-federal groups.