The now-retired database documented 27 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in the United States last year alone.

McLaughlin and Department of Government Efficiency alum Bryton Shang then decide whether to send the contract on to Lutnick. While Lutnick typically reviews about two dozen NOAA contracts a week, that accounts for a tiny fraction of the total, and more than 200 contracts are languishing on his desk.

The billion-dollar disaster tracker is on a growing list of datasets NOAA says that either scientists will no longer update or the administration will decommission entirely.

The web portal providing weather and climate disaster information since 1980 will be maintained only through last year, the agency said.

The announcement was made on NOAA's website under "notice of change," which said it would no longer be updated due to "evolving priorities, statutory mandates, and staffing changes." The move was ...

“My message is: if this is a radio blackout then patience is your best bet. Go check the NOAA website and if the planetary K-Index is red instead of green then go have an early lunch.

It will be harder to know the cost of the most extreme weather disasters, as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced it will stop monitoring billion-dollar disasters in the United States.