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Legislators hear plea to fund URI coastal tools after federal support wanes; emergency managers urge $400,000 appropriation

2888910 · April 3, 2025
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Summary

University researchers and municipal emergency managers urged the Finance Committee to fund CHAMP, Storm Tools and MyCoast (House resolution/HB 6016) with $400,000, saying federal support is ending and the tools provide high‑resolution, operational forecasts and crowd‑sourced flooding data used by state agencies and cities including Providence.

Researchers from the University of Rhode Island, municipal emergency managers and the Coastal Resources Center urged the House Finance Committee to appropriate $400,000 to support three coastal hazard tools — CHAMP, Storm Tools and MyCoast — now relied upon by state agencies and local emergency managers.

Dr. Austin Becker, a URI professor who testified as an expert, said the tools are "a culmination of over 10 years of rigorous research" and are used by DEM, CRMC, the state health department, Navy Station Newport and municipal emergency…

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