[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 194 (Wednesday, December 14, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1283]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      FLOOD LEVEL OBSERVATION, OPERATIONS AND DECISION SUPPORT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, December 12, 2022

  Ms. JOHNSON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the 
bipartisan, bicameral FLOODS Act led by Senator Wicker. Flooding is the 
most common natural hazard in the United States, resulting in the 
greatest number of lives lost and property damaged. We passed the tenth 
anniversary of Superstorm Sandy about one month ago. That storm was a 
harbinger of the future as we have seen many storms with record-
breaking extreme precipitation that has led to flooding events, from 
Hurricane Harvey in my home state of Texas, to the more recent 
Hurricane Ida. The need to better prepare our communities for potential 
catastrophic flooding is now more crucial than ever.
  The FLOODS Act directs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration to establish a National Integrated Flood Information 
System that will inform and provide timely decision-making in the face 
of flooding events and coordinate and integrate flood research at NOAA. 
The bill would also designate a service coordination hydrologist at 
each National Weather Service River Forecast Center, and it requires 
NOAA to leverage existing work through intra-agency and external 
partnerships to improve impact decision support systems, as well as 
regularly update Atlas 14 precipitation frequency estimates.
  It cannot be overstated how urgent the need for this basic work is 
for informing products such as updated FEMA flood maps used in flood 
insurance determinations, designing infrastructure in flood prone 
areas, and for planning evacuations. I want to thank Representative 
Sherrill for her leadership on this legislation and on the issue of 
addressing the causes and impacts of flooding on Americans across the 
country.
  I urge my colleagues to support its passage.

                          ____________________