Boustany's RADAR Act Vital for South Louisiana

Statement

Dr. Charles Boustany (R-Lafayette) released the following statement after a WAFB-TV Baton Rouge report demonstrated South Louisiana was left without adequate radar coverage during severe weather on Thursday, August 4th.

Boustany said: "This storm is another example of the major gaps in weather radar coverage in South Louisiana. After a report in February stating that multiple tornadoes slipped through radar coverage, giving South Louisiana residents almost no advance warning, I got to work. My RADAR Act will ensure Louisianians have the most up-to-date information and advance warning to prepare for inclement weather as it arises."

In a blog post detailing the August 4th outage, WAFB meteorolgist Steve Caparotta wrote: "Metro Baton Rouge and much of South Louisiana have relatively poor radar coverage and once the radar in Slidell goes down, forecasters are almost flying blind. That's a scary thought for an area prone to so much active weather. I hope that this will once again draw some needed attention to our radar vulnerability and help garner some additional support for Rep. Boustany's bill that would attempt to fill this coverage gap here and elsewhere around the country."

On February 23, 2016, WAFB-TVBaton Rouge released a report that revealed there were several tornadoes that triggered almost no advance warning for South Louisiana residents. One tornado in St. Mary Parish was completely undetected.

Boustany's RADAR Act requires the Secretary of Commerce to maintain and operate at least one Doppler weather radar site within 55 miles of each state capital city in the United States. This will close the gap in South Louisiana's radar coverage and give citizens more advance warning of inclement weather.

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