Two recent events showcased the disastrous consequences of the climate crisis: Hurricane Helene, a storm that North Carolina “wasn’t prepared for,” and the ongoing wildfires in Southern California.
One way that states, municipalities, and businesses prepare for natural disasters and extreme weather events is by using data that can simulate potential climate outcomes to make decisions, such as how best to construct buildings and where to place equipment. A comprehensive set of this type of data, ClimRR, was made available to the public as part of a partnership between the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Argonne National Laboratory, and telecom giant AT&T in 2022.
Over the last two years, Argonne, AT&T, and the Interdependent Networked Community Resilience Modeling Environment—Project IN-CORE for short—worked with state and local governments across the country to help them navigate ClimRR and apply its findings to their emergency management and mitigation plans. The result was increased awareness of climate-related disasters and the effects of the climate crisis.
Kentucky’s Barren River Area Development District (BRADD), in the area surrounding Bowling Green, has dealt with tornadoes, severe flooding, and a sinkhole—and the ClimRR data has helped the area update its hazard mitigation plan so it can better handle events like those in the future. In addition to the data, Argonne, AT&T, and Project IN-CORE provided BRADD with free consulting.
“While we have really great employees, we do not have scientists on our team. We have people who know how to use data, but [not] to really understand the source of data and to understand how climate plays a role,” BRADD executive director Eric Sexton told Tech Brew.
The data is helping local elected officials make more informed decisions now, he said. What’s more, engaging with ClimRR opened some Kentuckians’ eyes to the fact that natural disasters are the result of the climate crisis, and made them think more about climate resiliency.
“I don’t think people in our area particularly have necessarily thought about how that is connected,” Sexton said. “It behooves us to be more responsible to the climate.”
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ClimRR data has also been used by officials in Albany County, New York, County Executive Dan McCoy told Tech Brew, noting he can now “sleep well at night” knowing that Albany County is able to better protect itself from climate-related disasters.
McCoy said Albany County has faced increased flooding, severe snowstorms, and landslides, especially in its hill towns, which don’t have adequate resources to deal with disasters on their uneven terrain.
“Whether you believe in climate change or don’t believe in climate change, we’re dealing with more of these storms than we ever dealt with in the past,” McCoy said. “We have to be prepared.”
And even though natural disasters are becoming more common, it can be difficult to convince residents of the need to invest in disaster preparedness, he said.
“It’s hard to sell to your constituents and people that you’re going to invest millions of dollars for a potential storm down the road. But the damage that this causes is worse,” McCoy told us.
But the ClimRR data—which McCoy says will save the county time and money—has allowed him to be proactive rather than reactive.
“If [a climate-related natural disaster] doesn’t happen, great, we’re happy,” McCoy said. “But if it happens, we’re prepared. And it’s easier.”
Making things easier when disasters strike—“whether you’re a red state or a blue state”—was the impetus for releasing the ClimRR data publicly, AT&T’s global director of environmental sustainability, Jessica Filante, told Tech Brew.
“It doesn’t make sense for a company to be resilient in a vacuum. You need to be able to think about lifting everybody with you,” Filante said—especially when governing bodies like BRADD and Albany County operate the roads that AT&T uses to access its infrastructure. “Resilience is a bipartisan issue.”
Correction 1/10/2025: This story has been updated to correct the short name of the Interdependent Networked Community Resilience Modeling Environment, as well as the date when the ClimRR portal debuted.