Warning systems for floods, hurricanes, and famine are suffering from Donald Trump’s data purge

Warning systems for floods, hurricanes, and famine are suffering from Donald Trump’s data purge.

By gutting USAID , the Trump administration has cut off access to data people relied on to warn people about weather disasters and food shortages.

The US collects a vast amount of weather and climate data, an essential resource for humanitarian efforts around the globe.

A FEWS NET contract that provided famine forecasters with modeling tools to understand household and market vulnerabilities was terminated.

The Trump administration also has yet to rescind termination notices for a data hub that shared the famine forecasts and underlying data used to create them online.

That will likely lead to less detailed local analyses, according to a former official.

The State Department says the waiver it granted for “life-saving” work does not reflect the agency’s final determination of whether or not a particular program should continue.

Emergency responders are scrambling to get ready for hurricane season now that USAID has lost funding.

Pakistan suffered devastating flooding that inundated a third of the country in 2022 , and faces rising flood risk with climate change.

Investing in early warning systems and preparedness have saved tens of thousands of lives during disasters.