1. United States
2. Letter

I am writing to express deep concern over the Trump administration’s quiet cancellation of NOAA’s Atlas 15 Volume 2 project—an essential, nearly completed climate tool that was designed to help communities prepare for the growing threat of extreme rainfall and flooding. This matters now more than ever. Just this month, over the July 4th holiday, Texas was slammed by catastrophic flash floods, with rainfall totals shattering records and overwhelming local infrastructure. Entire communities were inundated with little warning, and emergency services were stretched to the brink. Events like these are no longer rare—they are becoming the new normal. And yet, communities are still planning for yesterday’s weather. Atlas 15 Volume 2 was intended to fix that. It would have provided nationally standardized, forward-looking rainfall data that reflects how storms are intensifying due to climate change. This data would have informed everything from stormwater systems to zoning laws to FEMA flood maps. But instead, the Department of Commerce—under Secretary Howard Lutnick—indefinitely suspended the project this spring, following a review ordered by the Trump administration. This wasn’t a costly program. It was a low-budget, high-impact project, already close to completion. Its cancellation isn’t just shortsighted—it’s dangerous. Right now, most of the country still relies on rainfall estimates dating back to the 1970s or earlier. The more recent Atlas 14 updates only reflect past weather. None account for the way our climate is changing in real time. Meanwhile, “once-in-a-century” storms are now happening every couple of decades—or more often—just like we saw in Texas this July. Infrastructure is being built using obsolete data. That disconnect leads to dangerous, costly failures, putting lives at risk. Atlas 15 was a tool to bridge that gap—and it was shut down not because of budget concerns, but as part of a broader political effort to dismantle federal climate science programs. Private companies may offer their own projections, but NOAA remains the national gold standard. Its data underpins building codes, insurance models, flood planning, and emergency preparedness across the country. Gutting this authoritative public resource doesn’t just create confusion—it directly increases risk to American communities. I urge you to call for the immediate reinstatement and completion of Atlas 15 Volume 2. We cannot afford to let this critical tool die in silence. The future is already here—we must be prepared for it.