past, to bring to this body legislation which has been considered by all members within the committees that have not only an interest but also a jurisdictional problem which must be equated.

Once more, I thank the Senator from Alabama.

Mr. SPARKMAN. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished Senator from West Virginia for his cooperation. Let me say to him that I did not in any way question reference of the bill to the Public Works Committee. I said that is where it basically belongs even though there are three features in it that particularly belong to the Committee on Banking and Currency.

Mr. President, the Senator from Indiana (Mr. Hartke) wants to file a conference report-call up a conference report. He tells me it will take just about 2 minutes. I therefore yield to him for that purpose.

Senator DOLE. Let me add to what the Senator from Indiana said. After our hearings in Biloxi, Miss., and Roanoke, Va., there was a recognition by the subcommittee members that we must close some gaps and streamline our Federal disaster procedures.

There have been changes recommended by the Senator from Indiana, myself and the executive branch. Hopefully, as a result of these hearings, improvements can be made. We approach the problem in a complete spirit of bipartisanship or nonpartisanship, as it should be.

Senator BAYH. Senator Baker?

Senator BAKER. I have nothing to say.

Senator BAYH. Our first witness is Dr. Myron Tribus, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Science and Technology of the Department of Commerce.

We are glad to have you with us and are anxious to have your testimony.

STATEMENT OF MYRON TRIBUS, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF COMMERCE FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE; ACCOMPANIED BY DR. ROBERT WHITE, ADMINISTRATOR, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE SERVICES ADMINISTRATION; AND DR. ROBERT ELLERT, ASSISTANT GENERAL COUNSEL, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Dr. TRIBUS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Before I begin, let me introduce the gentlemen who are here with me. On my left is Dr. Robert White, Administrator of ESSA; on my right is Dr. Robert Ellert, Assistant General Counsel in the Department of Commerce.

Mr. Chairman and members of the special subcommittee:

I am pleased to be here to present a review of the Department of Commerce's hurricane warnings services in connection with the Hurricane Camille disaster. Guarding against hurricanes is a very serious part of living along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. Over the years, while the death toll has dropped consistently, property damages have soared at a phenomenal rate. On the basis of the 1957-59 dollar-which in the light of today's dollar is a modest basis—we find that hurricanes cost something over $200 million in the 5-year period ending in 1934. In the period between 1965 and 1969, partly because of the proliferation of activity along our shores, this figure had climbed to more than $2.4 billion. This slide will illustrate the point.

(Slide 1 follows:)

2000 (Adjusted to 1957-59 base)

TRENDS OF LOSSES FROM HURRICANES IN THE UNITED STATES

DAMAGE BY FIVE YEAR PERIODS IN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS (VALUES ADJUSTED TO BASE 1957-59)

2200

DEATHS CAUSED IN THE UNITED STATES BY HURRICANES

5500

Dr. TRIBUS. Then, last summer. Hurricane Camille smashed into the Gulf Coast, killing more than 250 persons and leaving a wake of more than $1 billion in property damage. President Nixon characterized it as probably the worst storm, in terms of physical damage, that any State or any area has ever suffered.

We are here today to look back upon Hurricane Camille, in the hope that we have learned vital lessons, and that our protective obligation to the people can be better executed.

I will discuss the Department of Commerce's performance during Hurricane Camille shortly, but first let me outline briefly its mission in the area of a natural disaster such as this. Through its ESSA Weather Bureau, the Department is the Federal agency charged with finding and reporting to the public the location and movement of hurricanes as quickly and well as possible, and in detail. This service is provided by a network of offices and observations which monitor areas of potential or incipient tropical cyclones, and which work closely not only with the general public but with disaster and rescue agencies and salvage workers.

The focal point for this activity is the National Hurricane Center in Miami, which provides a single source for hurricane forecasts in the Atlantic and Gulf Coast areas, and is responsible for technical matters connected with the Atlantic Hurricane Warning Service. including the supervision of warnings prepared at Boston, Washington, New Orleans, and San Juan. Other hurricane forecast and warning offices are situated in San Francisco and Honolulu.

Another ESSA responsibility, one which I will discuss more fully later in this testimony, is the study of the internal structures of hurricanes and other tropical circulations.

Storms are tracked by ESSA long before they become hurricanes, with a view to giving the longest-range and most accurate predictions, watches and warnings of which the state of the art is capable. By weather satellite, surface ships, aerial reconnaissance, radar, and other means, these disturbances are watched from their origins as tropical depressions through their growth into hurricanes, and finally, their dissipation. It is fair to say that no hurricane can strike. the U.S. coast without quite considerable warning. It is also necessary to say that pinpointing the precise place where a given hurricane comes ashore is extremely difficult, and much less certain.

Far out in the Atlantic where many of our hurricanes begin-although some form in the Gulf of Mexico-the weather satellite is our prime tool for detection. NASA launches these satellites and ESSA is responsible for acquiring, processing, and analyzing the satellite data. The great value of the satellite is that it has extended our senses, and consequently our lead time, by thousands of miles and a great many hours. When the ESSA satellites pick up a disturbance, it may well be nothing more than a tropical depression. It is constantly monitored by ESSA meterologists until it becomes a serious storm or is no longer a threat. Many disturbances remain far out at sea, never reaching any landfall. But yet, ships plying the major sea lanes, and fishing fleets at work, are vulnerable to the devastating sea and wind conditions accompanying tropical storms. To serve these maritime interests, marine environmental reports, bulletins, and warnings are transmitted routinely by shortwave radio from cooperating Coast Guard locations.

(Slide 1A follows:)

Dr. TRIBUS. In this photo we see by way of satellite support, five hurricanes occurring simultaneously in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Pacific on September 14, 1967. As you may recall Doria and Beulah both struck the mainland. The other storms shown posed a major threat to only the maritime interests.

When a major storm comes within aircraft range, aerial reconnaissance is of prime importance in determining its size, strength, and direction.

The Navy and the Air Force share equally the reconnaissance responsibility for investigative flights into storms in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico areas. This year ESSA planes will also undertake operational hurricane flights. Navy, Air Force and ESSA pilots fly right into the eye of the hurricane, crossing severe icing zones to get there, flying predetermined courses which enable our scientists to compute the storm's severity and nature.

I cannot overemphasize the contribution the armed forces make to our hurricane effort through these dangerous, but vital flights. Nor would it be possible to do an adequate job of aerial reconnaissance without the active cooperation of other governments-including that of Cuba-in this hemisphere. The weather is one area which can be characterized as internationally apolitical.

Slide 2.

(Slide 2 follows:)