US Wildfire Damage Tracking Gaps Spark Fear of Rising Costs

Los Angeles, California: Wildfires have scorched tens of thousands of acres in 2025, yet it’s getting harder to tally just how devastating they are financially. A former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) researcher says he was told to stop publishing detailed cost estimates for wildfire and storm damage. Soon after, the NOAA database tracking economic impacts of major climate disasters was decommissioned. Officials claim the tool was outdated, but environmental groups suspect political motives, since the data historically showed skyrocketing climate-related expenses. This development leaves insurers and homeowners with fewer public resources to assess risk.