H.R. 5855: Measuring the Cost of Disasters Act of 2025

This bill, titled the Measuring the Cost of Disasters Act of 2025, aims to create a public database and webpage managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that will provide detailed information about significant disasters in the United States, specifically those that result in costs of $1 billion or more.

Key Provisions

• Database Creation: NOAA is tasked with establishing and maintaining a database and webpage dedicated to billion-dollar disasters occurring annually in the U.S.
• Biannual Updates: The database and webpage will be updated at least twice a year as new information about disasters becomes available.
• Information Included: The database will contain various details concerning each disaster, including:
  • The estimated financial cost of the disaster.
  • The type of disaster (e.g., hurricane, flood, wildfire).
  • The geographical location where the disaster occurred.
  • The date or dates when the disaster took place.
  • Any other relevant information that NOAA deems appropriate.
• Visual Data Representation: The webpage will feature visual graphs and maps that show trends over time and the distribution of similar types of disasters across the country. This visual information is intended to mirror previous data made available by NOAA from 1980 to 2024.
• Data Sources: NOAA is required to use existing data it has access to and may work with federal and non-federal partners to achieve this goal, using lessons learned from previous disaster databases.
• Inclusion of Other Disasters: If deemed appropriate, NOAA can also include disasters that do not meet the billion-dollar threshold in the database.
• Archive Maintenance: The information from previously maintained disaster databases will be preserved for archival and research purposes on the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information webpage.

Definition of Billion-Dollar Disaster

The bill defines a "billion-dollar disaster" as any storm or severe weather event that results in total costs of $1 billion or more, including both direct costs and market costs, as determined by NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.

Importance of the Bill

This legislation aims to increase transparency and accessibility of information regarding costly disasters, potentially aiding in research, disaster preparedness, and policy-making related to disaster management and response.

Relevant Companies

• IBM (IBM): As a technology company that provides data analytics and cloud services, IBM could be involved in supporting the infrastructure for managing and analyzing the disaster data.
• Adobe (ADBE): Adobe might be indirectly impacted through its data visualization tools that could be used to present disaster data effectively.
• Planet Fitness (PLNT): If disasters affect health and safety, fitness companies like Planet Fitness may need to assess impacts on their facilities and memberships.