U.S. House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) sent a letter today to the National Weather Service (NWS) Director Louis Uccellini after NWS suffered a power outage, hindering its ability to issue alerts and forecasts that millions of Americans rely on.
 
The letter reads: “On Monday, NWS stopped disseminating forecasts, warnings, radar and satellite imagery, and current conditions for hours, endangering American lives and property.  The products that NWS disseminates to the public daily are far reaching and have immediate impacts for millions of Americans who rely on them.”
 
“Specifically, the Committee is interested in information on how this incident occurred, the server backup procedures and implementation strategy, the response or lack thereof following the incident, and what is being done to ensure this does not happen again,” the letter continues.
 
Today’s letter can be found here.