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Severe Storms and Reducing Their Impact on Communities

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Severe Storms and Reducing Their Impact on Communities S. HRG. 109–370 SEVERE STORMS AND REDUCING THEIR IMPACT ON COMMUNITIES HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON DISASTER PREVENTION AND PREDICTION OF THE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION JUNE 29, 2005 Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 26–822 PDF WASHINGTON : 2006 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 14:25 May 04, 2006 Jkt 026822 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\26822.TXT JACKF PsN: JACKF SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION TED STEVENS, Alaska, Chairman JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii, Co-Chairman CONRAD BURNS, Montana JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia TRENT LOTT, Mississippi JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine BARBARA BOXER, California GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon BILL NELSON, Florida JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada MARIA CANTWELL, Washington GEORGE ALLEN, Virginia FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire E. BENJAMIN NELSON, Nebraska JIM DEMINT, South Carolina MARK PRYOR, Arkansas DAVID VITTER, Louisiana LISA J. SUTHERLAND, Republican Staff Director CHRISTINE DRAGER KURTH, Republican Deputy Staff Director DAVID RUSSELL, Republican Chief Counsel MARGARET L. CUMMISKY, Democratic Staff Director and Chief Counsel SAMUEL E. WHITEHORN, Democratic Deputy Staff Director and General Counsel LILA HARPER HELMS, Democratic Policy Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON DISASTER PREVENTION AND PREDICTION JIM DEMINT, South Carolina, Chairman E. BENJAMIN NELSON, Nebraska, Ranking TED STEVENS, Alaska MARIA CANTWELL, Washington GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon BILL NELSON, Florida DAVID VITTER, Louisiana (II) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 14:25 May 04, 2006 Jkt 026822 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\26822.TXT JACKF PsN: JACKF C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on June 29, 2005 ............................................................................... 1 Statement of Senator DeMint ................................................................................. 1 Statement of Senator E. Benjamin Nelson ............................................................ 4 Statement of Senator Vitter .................................................................................... 2 WITNESSES Ahlberg, Doug, Director, Lincoln-Lancaster County Emergency Management .. 50 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 52 Levitan, Dr. Marc L., Director, Louisiana State University Hurricane Center/ Charles P. Siess, Jr. Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engi- neering .................................................................................................................. 35 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 38 Mayfield, Max, Director, Tropical Prediction Center/National Hurricane Cen- ter, National Weather Service ............................................................................. 5 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 7 McCarthy, Dennis, Director, Office of Climate, Water and Weather Services, National Weather Service .................................................................................... 13 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 15 Reinhold, Timothy A., Ph.D., Vice President of Engineering, Institute for Business & Home Safety ..................................................................................... 42 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 44 Sallenger, Jr., Asbury H., Oceanographer, U.S. Geological Survey Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies .................................................................... 19 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 21 Walsh, Bill, Director of Meteorology/Chief Meteorologist, WCSC Live 5 News . 32 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 34 APPENDIX Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Jim DeMint to: Timothy A. Reinholdt ....................................................................................... 67 Max Mayfield .................................................................................................... 57 Response to Written Questions Submitted to Dennis McCarthy by: Hon. Daniel K. Inouye ...................................................................................... 61 Hon. E. Benjamin Nelson ................................................................................ 62 Hon. Ted Stevens .............................................................................................. 59 (III) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 14:25 May 04, 2006 Jkt 026822 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\26822.TXT JACKF PsN: JACKF VerDate 0ct 09 2002 14:25 May 04, 2006 Jkt 026822 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\26822.TXT JACKF PsN: JACKF SEVERE STORMS AND REDUCING THEIR IMPACT ON COMMUNITIES WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2005 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON DISASTER PREVENTION AND PREDICTION, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION, Washington, DC. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:30 p.m. in room SR–253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Jim DeMint, Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JIM DEMINT, U.S. SENATOR FROM SOUTH CAROLINA Senator DEMINT. Good afternoon, everyone. I want to thank all of you for joining us at this hearing to discuss and examine the im- pact of severe weather on our communities, and what the citizens and government can do to lessen its impact. As we’re all aware, hurricanes and tornadoes have a devastating impact on our com- munities. South Carolina witnessed the impact of Mother Nature most severely when Hurricane Hugo made a direct hit on Charles- ton in 1989. The devastation to homes, businesses, and families was widespread. Fortunately, we’ve learned some important les- sons from these storms, we’re starting to see our preparation for the storms improve, and we’re seeing the accuracy of the Weather Service’s predictions improve. While we’ve come a long way from where we were in 1989, there’s still a lot that needs to be done. Too many homes and busi- nesses have not incorporated disaster-resistant technologies into their buildings, numerous communities have gutted out the build- ing codes that encourage builders and developers to adopt tech- nologies that will protect life and property when a storm rolls in. In the past few decades, the Weather Service has dramatically im- proved its predictions of both hurricanes and tornadoes. The hurri- canes, we’ve seen the accuracy of landfall predictions improve sig- nificantly. Now, this is crucial for states like South Carolina where each mile of coastline evacuated can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. We’ve also seen tornado predictions increase by minutes, and a few minutes can mean the difference between getting to a tornado shelter and being stuck in your home. Each improvement trans- lates directly into saved lives. While the improvements have been impressive, there are still places where we can do better. We need a better idea of the impact on beaches and rivers of hurricane land- (1) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 14:25 May 04, 2006 Jkt 026822 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\26822.TXT JACKF PsN: JACKF 2 fall, NOAA needs to improve its forecasting of hurricane intensity. When the Weather Service estimates the intensity of the hurricane too high, they unnecessarily trigger evacuations, and this costs residences, businesses and governments money. When they forecast too low, lives are placed in jeopardy. I’m looking forward to hearing from Mr. Mayfield, Mr. McCarthy, and Dr. Sallenger on how their agencies plan to improve the prod- ucts they provide to the taxpayer, in addition to the predictions and forecasts generated by the USGS and the Weather Service. The pri- vate sector, state, and local governments play an equally important role in ensuring that our communities are prepared, and able to re- spond to severe storms. The engineering community and insurance industry have a crucial role to play in encouraging the incorpora- tion of disaster-resistant technologies into homes and businesses that can provide strong incentives to businesses and individuals to become better prepared for disasters. We also need to recognize the important role that broadcast meteorologists play in commu- nicating to our communities during disasters. For Charleston, South Carolina, Bill Walsh is the man the com- munity turns to when they need to know how to prepare for big storms, and after the storms when the power is down, Bill Walsh and his colleagues along with the broadcast community are often the only points of information for devastated communities. I look forward to the comments of our witnesses this afternoon. This hearing and the one earlier this month are providing
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