As Floods Hit, Key Roles Were Vacant at Weather Service Offices in Texas

[Prairie Gates]

Source: The New York Times

Crucial positions at the local offices of the National Weather Service were unfilled as severe rainfall inundated parts of Central Texas on Friday morning, prompting some experts to question whether staffing shortages made it harder for the forecasting agency to coordinate with local emergency managers as floodwaters rose.

......

The Weather Service’s nearby San Antonio office, which covers other areas hit by the floods, also had significant vacancies, including a warning coordination meteorologist and science officer, Mr. Fahy said. Staff members in those positions are meant to work with local emergency managers to plan for floods, including when and how to warn local residents and help them evacuate.

That office’s warning coordination meteorologist left on April 30, after taking the early retirement package the Trump administration used to reduce the number of federal employees, according to a person with knowledge of his departure.

........

Under the Trump administration, the Weather Service, like other federal agencies, has been pushed to reduce its number of employees. By this spring, through layoffs and retirements, the Weather Service had lost nearly 600 people from a work force that until recently was as large as 4,000.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/05/us/politics/texas-floods-warnings-vacancies.html

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"That office’s warning coordination meteorologist left on April 30, after taking the early retirement package the Trump administration used to reduce the number of federal employees"



Elections are general policy decisions made by the public. People need to remember that.

[RedWhiteBlueIsRacist]

1. Less government. Not what it's cracked up to be.

[BeyondGeography]

2. But at least their taxes are lower than they would otherwise be

From the article:

The shortages are among the factors likely to be scrutinized as the death toll climbs from the floods. Separate questions have emerged about the preparedness of local communities, including Kerr County’s apparent lack of a local flood warning system. The county, roughly 50 miles northwest of San Antonio, is where many of the deaths occurred.

In an interview, Rob Kelly, the Kerr County judge and its most senior elected official, said the county did not have a warning system because such systems are expensive, and local residents are resistant to new spending.

“Taxpayers won’t pay for it,” Mr. Kelly said. Asked if people might reconsider in light of the catastrophe, he said, “I don’t know.”

[Norrrm]

3. "if people might reconsider"... Thoughts and prayers are cheap.

[Pototan]

4. People in the Trump Administration are guilty of

negligent homicide. Anyone who made these cuts, up to and including the President.

It's as if a person in authority sent the Air Traffic Controllers home and there's a collision of two planes.

[SunSeeker]

5. CNN just reported that the Big Bill will cut even more from weather forecasting.

Fucking ridiculous, and murderous.

[Cha]

7. Think of it through Putin's eyes.. that's

who's calling the shots.

Too bad so many brainwashed in Texas and elsewhere.

[Irish_Dem]

11. Putin is killing Americans without firing a shot.

Decades of propaganda and stealing elections are paying off.

[LisaL]

15. It's not Putin who is killing Americans.

Americans did it to themselves.

[Cha]

6. TY Kick!

The Traitor Admin's End Game is What Putin Wants.. to Destroy America.

Be a Shame if A Flood or Hurricane Destroyed a Billionaire's home because there was No Warning

Last I heard Fuckerberg has a house on Kauai

[speak easy]

8. Putin has got an amazing return on his investment.

Kompromat, meddling or whatever, he could hardly have done better than this.

[Cha]

9. A Long & Hard Investment.. and some

help by useful idiots who Couldn't vote for Hillary in 2016 because according to Jill RF Stein .. Hillary and Traitor were the same.. I bet she was working for Putin.

And then of course last year.. we had Billionaires and their Billion$$$$$ working on oozing traitor entrenched Again... And all the Lies & Brainwashing

💙

[Irish_Dem]

12. Putin interfered with the elections too.

He had to get Trump in the WH.

[LisaL]

16. Trump wouldn't have gotten into the WH

if millions of Americans didn't vote for him. For the second freaking time, and after he was convicted of multiple felonies. Millions looked at that and said, yea, that's what I want. Well now they got it.

[LilElf70]

10. Gee.

Why am I not surprised? It's just a nudder poor decision by an inexperienced narcissistic wanna be king. And somehow he will make sure this was non of his decision or fault. I wonder who's it gonna be this time.

[modrepub]

13. Penny Wise, Pound Foolish

NWS offices have small staff numbers to begin with, very lean. Were DOGE's cost cutting deferred resignations really worth the minuscule savings?

[LisaL]

14. And hurricane season is starting.

Here comes a hurricane! Where it goes, nobody knows. Because everybody who could predict where it goes got fired.

[Puppyjive]

17. In my opinion

This is Trump voter country. These people are the most uninformed people I know. You can't reach these people. They don't keep up on current events and only watch FOX news. If I worked for NWS or NOAA, I would not trust any forms of media that cater to the right. They spin their news and do not report the facts that might hurt their crony capitalism. Our country today. WTF.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

18. NYT-As Floods Hit, Key Roles Were Vacant at Weather Service Offices in Texas (gift links)

Some experts say staff shortages might have complicated forecasters’ ability to coordinate responses with local emergency management officials.

🚨 NYT: As Floods Hit, Key Roles Were Vacant at Weather Service Offices in Texas

Some experts say staff shortages might have complicated forecasters’ ability to coordinate responses with local emergency management officials.

Gift link:

— MeidasTouch (@meidastouch.com) 2025-07-06T04:33:59.776Z

Link to tweet

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/05/us/politics/texas-floods-warnings-vacancies.html?unlocked_article_code=1.UU8.Zjkx.evidtrUYt_ZY&smid=tw-share

Crucial positions at the local offices of the National Weather Service were unfilled as severe rainfall inundated parts of Central Texas on Friday morning, prompting some experts to question whether staffing shortages made it harder for the forecasting agency to coordinate with local emergency managers as floodwaters rose.....

The staffing shortages suggested a separate problem, those former officials said — the loss of experienced people who would typically have helped communicate with local authorities in the hours after flash flood warnings were issued overnight.

The shortages are among the factors likely to be scrutinized as the death toll climbs from the floods. Separate questions have emerged about the preparedness of local communities, including Kerr County’s apparent lack of a local flood warning system. The county, roughly 50 miles northwest of San Antonio, is where many of the deaths occurred......

The National Weather Service’s San Angelo office, which is responsible for some of the areas hit hardest by Friday’s flooding, was missing a senior hydrologist, staff forecaster and meteorologist in charge, according to Tom Fahy, the legislative director for the National Weather Service Employees Organization, the union that represents Weather Service workers.

The Weather Service’s nearby San Antonio office, which covers other areas hit by the floods, also had significant vacancies, including a warning coordination meteorologist and science officer, Mr. Fahy said. Staff members in those positions are meant to work with local emergency managers to plan for floods, including when and how to warn local residents and help them evacuate.

That office’s warning coordination meteorologist left on April 30, after taking the early retirement package the Trump administration used to reduce the number of federal employees, according to a person with knowledge of his departure......

John Sokich, who until January was director of congressional affairs for the National Weather Service, said those unfilled positions made it harder to coordinate with local officials because each Weather Service office works as a team. “Reduced staffing puts that in jeopardy,” he said......

An equally important question, he added, was how the Weather Service was coordinating with local emergency managers to act on those warnings as they came in.

“You have to have a response mechanism that involves local officials,” Dr. Uccellini said. “It involves a relationship with the emergency management community, at every level.”

But that requires having staff members in those positions, he said......

Typically, Mr. Sokich said, the Weather Service will send an official to meet regularly with local emergency managers for what are called “tabletop operations” — planning ahead of time for what to do in case of a flash flood or other major weather disaster.

But the Trump administration’s pursuit of fewer staff members means remaining employees have less time to spend coordinating with local officials, he said.

I have been through a number of hurricanes/storms including Ike, Allison, Harvey and lately Berly. There were weather service people coordinating with local officials during all of these storms. Here the DOGE and trump cuts meant that the weather service did not have the staff available to coordinate with the local officials.