WASHINGTON (AP) – Former federal officials and outside experts have been warning that President Donald Trump’s massive staff cuts on the National Weather Service could be life-threatening.
After heavy rain and mountain torrential rain Friday attacks in rural Texas Hillsthe Weather Service has been criticized by local officials for what they say is insufficient prediction, although most people in Republican-controlled countries have stopped blaming Trump for cutting. Meanwhile, Democrats have little time to associate staff reduction with disasters, which are blamed for the deaths of at least 80 people, including more than twenty girls and counselors attend summer camps on the banks of the Guadalupe River.
The NWS office in charge of the area has five staff on duty as a thunderstorm was set up in Texas Thursday night, the usual number of overnight stays in severe weather. Current and former NWS officials have provided defense to the agency, pointing to emergency flash flood warnings issued hours before the river rises.
“This is the first to issue a catastrophic flash flood warning, which shows the shifting awareness of meteorologists in the NWS office,” said Brian Lamarre, who retired at the NWS forecast office in Tampa, Florida. “There are always challenges to point out extreme values, but the fact that a disastrous warning shows the level of urgency in the first place.”
Questions about coordination level continue
However, there are still problems with the level of coordination and communication between the NWS and local officials regarding disaster night. The Trump administration has Cut hundreds of jobs in NWSand Reduce at least 20% Nearly half of the 122 NWS field offices nationwide, at least sixty workers no longer have 24 hours a day. Hundreds of experienced forecasters and senior management are encouraged to retire early.
The White House also proposed to cut its parent company’s budget by 27% and eliminate federal research centers dedicated to studying the world’s weather, climate and oceans.
website Austin/San Antonio’s NWS OfficeCovering the area, including Kerr County, which suffered a heavy blow, shows that 6 of the 27 positions were listed as vacant. Vacancy includes a key manager responsible for issuing warnings and coordinating with local emergency management officials. The online resume of the employee who held the job for the last time showed that he left in April after more than 17 years and soon after, in a massive email sent to employees urging them to retire or face potential layoffs.
Democrats urged the Trump administration on Monday for details about the cuts. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer demands government Conduct a query Whether the lack of personnel has led to “disastrous deaths” in Texas.
Meanwhile, Trump said the elimination efforts did not hinder any weather forecasts. He said the angry water was “what happened in seconds. No one expected it. No one saw it.”
Former officials warn that layoffs could hinder future forecasts
Former federal officials and experts say Trump’s reduction in unselected work in the NWS and other weather-related institutions will lead to brain consumption, which will undermine the federal government’s ability to predict in a timely, accurate manner. Such predictions can save lives, especially for those who are rapidly developing the storm’s path.
“This is reaching the point where it may break,” said meteorologist Louis Uccellini. “People are tired, working all night, and then being there during the day because the next shift is short. Anything can create an important element of an important prediction and warning.”
After returning to office in January, Trump released A series of execution orders Powers of the Ministry of Efficiency, originally led by large billionaire Elon Musk Develop comprehensive staff reduction And cancelled the contracts of federal agencies, bypassing a large amount of congressional oversight.
Although Musk has now left Washington There is a very public thing with Trumpthe Doge staff he hired and the cuts he sought essentially retained the lives of tens of thousands of federal employees.
The cuts followed a decade of Republican efforts to remove and privatize many of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s responsibilities, namely institutions within the Department of Commerce, including the NWS. As Trump has handed over top public positions to linked officials, those officials with private companies have been handed over to systems that fuel taxpayer funding to predict weather.
Project 2025, Conservative Management Blueprint Trump has distanced himself from the 2024 campaign period, but has already issued extensively after his office, calling for the removal of NOAA and further commercialization of meteorological services.
The long-term staffing shortage has led to some offices to reduce the frequency of regional forecasts and Weather balloon launch Atmospheric data needs to be collected. April, weather services Abruptly ending translation Its prediction and emergency alerts are in other languages other than English, including Spanish. Service is fast recover Public protests strongly.
NOAA’s main satellite operation centers briefly appeared on the list of surplus properties sold earlier this year. The proposed budget for Trump is also trying to shut down key facilities that track climate change. The proposed cutting includes the observatory on the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii, which has recorded for decades a steady rise in plant carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels in the Earth’s atmosphere.
June 25, NOAA suddenly announced The U.S. Department of Defense will no longer process or transmit data from three weather satellite experts It is crucial to accurately predict the path and intensity of a maritime hurricane.
“Removing data from a defense satellite is similar to removing public safety puzzles for hurricane intensity predictions,” said Lamar, now a private consultant. “The more debris is removed, the fewer pictures are, which can reduce the quality of life-saving warnings.”
Trump officials say they did not fire meteorologists
At a congressional hearing last month, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Detailed report from the Associated Press and other media organizations that record layoffs.
“We have enough forecasters and scientists,” Lutnick said before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee. “In no case, I will touch public safety or public forecasts.”
Despite a freeze on federal recruitment under Trump-guided, NOAA announced last month that it will try to fill more than 100 “Positions in Mission Critical Areas”, It can also be blocked holes in certain areas by reassigning employees. Although NOAA spokesman said Sunday that the positions have not been released publicly, although they will soon appear.
When asked about AP how NWS staff at the same time and still advertises “mission-critical positions” when it is open, business spokesperson Kristen Eichamer said, “The National Hurricane Center has enough staff to meet the needs of this season and any recruitment is just to deepen our talent pool.”
“The secretary is committed to providing Americans with the most accurate and up-to-date weather data by ensuring the National Weather Service is fully equipped with the staff and technology needed,” Eichamer said. “This is the first time we have integrated technology that is more accurate and agile than ever before to achieve this, and the NWS is expected to provide Americans with critical weather information.”
Uccellini and UCCELLINI, who criticized Trump’s criticism in an open letter issued by Democratic and Republican presidents in May, criticized Trump’s cuts; they said the administration’s actions resulted in the departure of about 550 employees – a decrease of more than 10% overall.
“NWS employees will have an impossible task to continue their current service levels,” they wrote. “Our worst nightmare is that the weather forecast office is so inadequate that it is unnecessary for life. We know that this is a nightmare for people on the frontline to share – and those who rely on their efforts.”
NOAA’s budget for fiscal year 2024 is less than $6.4 billion, of which less than $1.4 billion.
Experts worry about hurricane prediction
While experts say it is illegal for Trump to eliminate NOAA without Congress approval, some former federal officials are concerned that cutting could lead to a patchwork system, taxpayers funding satellite operations and atmospheric data collection, but pay for private services to issue forecasts and bad weather warnings. Commentators say such arrangements can lead to delays or missed emergency alerts, which in turn can lead to avoidable deaths.
D. James Baker, who served as NOAA administrator during the Clinton administration, questioned whether private forecasts will provide the public with services that do not generate profits.
“Will they be interested in serving in small communities in Maine?” Baker asked. “Is there a business model to get data from all citizens who need it? Will companies take legal risks, share information with disaster management agencies, and assume responsibility as the responsibilities of government agencies? Cutting NOAA is dangerous only if it is uncertain how to continue to provide forecasts.”
While Miami’s National Hurricane Center has largely retained a decrease in staff like regional NWS offices, some professionals who rely on federal forecasts and data have deeply welcomed the June start of the tropical weather season.
On an unusual airing on June 3, South Florida television meteorologist John Morales Warn his audience The Trump administration’s cuts mean he may not be able to predict the hurricane accurately as he did in the past few years. He cited the staff shortages in NWS offices from Tampa to Key West and urged him to call his congressional representatives in Greater Miami.
“What we are starting to see is that the quality of the forecast is decreasing,” Morales said. “And we may not know how powerful the hurricane was before it hits the shoreline.”
