Federal Grants for Weather Warning Systems

When severe weather strikes, the faster forecasters can determine where the weather is going, the faster residents of that area can warned of the danger. The problem is that such warning systems can be costly. Since an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, the federal government offers grant funding to help purchase early warning equipment or development systems to speed up detection of severe weather.

Also called the Automated Flood Warning Systems Program, the Integrated Flood Observing and Warning System (IFLOWS) provides funding for communities with flooding problems that have shown a danger to life and property. The program helps communities create, renovate or enhance an automated system to warn them of flood danger before it happens. Part of the system collects data for the National Weather Service, which can then redistribute data to the public.

State governments, local governments and Native American tribes can get pre-disaster mitigation grants up to $3 million. Administered through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the grants fund sustained programs and equipment to reduce the risk of injury, death and property damage from natural disasters.

The National Weather Service Severe Weather Program awards grants up to $125,000 for colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations, state governments, local governments and Native American tribes. The grants for programs look at how people receive and interpret data so that more effective methods of alerting and warning the public of natural disasters and other emergencies can be developed.

Joint Hurricane Testbed grants are for colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations, commercial organizations, foreign governments, local governments and Native American tribes. The grants are for research into hurricanes to improve analysis and forecasting. The projects should test, evaluation and modify the techniques to improve their ability to succeed.