Cruz introduces weather radio modernization bill with a new focus on flood communications

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WASHINGTON — Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Maria Cantwell, D-Washington are introducing a bill to expand and improve federal weather radio in the wake of the devastating Hill Country flooding that left over 100 people dead.

The bill, which the two last introduced in 2023, has taken on new resonance after the July 4 flood. In a new addition from the prior version, the legislation contains provisions to set standards for emergency communications in flood-prone areas.

Cruz and Cantwell are the chair and ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, respectively, giving the bill significant legislative heft. The 2023 version, which passed the Senate, was similarly bipartisan and introduced in the House, but never passed out of committee.

The legislation aims to modernize the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Weather Radio All Hazards network, which covers over 750 weather radio stations nationally, including 79 in Texas. The radio network broadcasts hazard information from nearby National Weather Service offices, and is particularly necessary in areas with poor internet connectivity, where radio may be the only reliable way to get information about imminent and ongoing disasters.

Questions have abounded over the effectiveness — or lack thereof — of emergency communications at the federal, state and local level in Kerr County during the flash flood, including from federal and state lawmakers. NWS sent out its first alert three hours and 21 minutes before the first flooding reports, but the late hour, poor cell service and potential breakdowns in the chain of communication between federal, state and local officials contributed to victims not being aware of the impending danger.

At the federal level, Democrats and environmental advocates have homed in on Trump administration cuts to NWS and NOAA staff. And all Senate Republicans — including Cruz — voted in early July for the Republican mega-bill that, among other cuts, rescinded unobligated NOAA funds for improvements to research, forecasting and weather information dissemination from Democrats’ 2022 climate law, among other priorities.

Cruz defended the cuts through a spokesperson, saying the unspent funds were not going toward existing operations or forecasting activity, and had sat unobligated for three years because the research projects the money was intended to fund had mostly been completed.

“There are simply more productive ways to be faithful stewards of public money and improve weather forecasts than continuing to overfund every possible NOAA account,” Cruz spokesperson Macarena Martinez said.

On July 4, forecasters at the NWS appear to have followed all the regular protocols and gotten warnings out — including to radios — in time.

Cruz and Cantwell’s bill would require NOAA to upgrade the National Weather Radio network with an eye towards improving reliability and expanding coverage to areas that have bad service, including through additional transmitters to eliminate dead zones. That includes making alerts more geographically accurate through better geolocation and adding backup power sources and delivery methods for alerts to reach radios regardless of outages.

These weather radios are often the more reliable means of delivering weather alerts — they are inexpensive, issue automatic alarms in the event of a watch or warning and do not rely on cell phone or internet service.

The bill also directly tackles flood communications. If signed into law, the National Institute of Standards and Technology would develop standards for flash flood emergency alerts in 100-year floodplains, or areas with a 1 percent annual chance of flooding.

The bill’s goal is to make flood-prone areas more nimble in its emergency response, with a focus on areas that lack other infrastructure, like mobile broadband access or a state or local emergency response system.

Cruz is not the only Texas lawmaker trying to make changes to weather radio. Rep. Randy Weber, R-Galveston, has been trying to get answers from NOAA on a damaged National Weather Radio transmitter in Galveston. The transmitter has been offline since a fire damaged it in March — a concern for Weber as peak hurricane season begins.

Other cosponsors include Sens. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Jerry Moran, R-Kansas and Gary Peters, D-Michigan.

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