Meteorologist Warns Trump's Cuts Will Have Consequences on Live TV
A meteorologist at NBC6 in Miami took time from his weather report to call out the 'gutting' federal cuts that have left the National Weather Service understaffed, underinformed, and with a quality of forecast that is considerably lower than it's been in recent years, making it harder to accurately track hurricanes this upcoming season.
Veteran meteorologist John Morales opened his segment with a six-year old clip of him accurately reporting on the path of Hurricane Dorian.
'Confidently, I went on TV and I told you, 'It's going to turn. You don't need to worry. It is going to turn,'' he said, referring to the NWS's hurricane prediction ability. 'And I am here to tell you that I am not sure I can do that this year, because of the cuts, the gutting, the sledgehammer attack on science in general.... This is a multigenerational impact on science in this country.'
Morales first noted that all central and south Florida NWS sites are around 20 to 40 percent understaffed right now. There has been 'nearly 20 percent reduction in weather balloon releases, launches, that carry those radio signs. And what we're starting to see is that the quality of the forecast is becoming degraded because of some of these cuts,' he added.
'There is also a chance that … NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft will not be able to fly this year. And with less reconnaissance missions, we may be flying blind. And we may not exactly know how strong a hurricane is before it reaches the coastline.'
DOGE made massive cuts to NWS that caused the agency to lose 600 employees, due to layoffs or early retirement. Multiple local field offices had a vacancy rate of over 20 percent as of March, causing anxiety to rise as we enter hurricane season.
The NWS's mission is 'protection of life and property.' The DOGE cuts are stopping them from doing that. More people will be in harm's way with less information because of decisions made by Elon Musk and Donald Trump. This, not efficiency, is the real material impact of DOGE.
'I was asked to talk about this today, I'm glad I was,' Morales concluded, 'I just want you to know that what you need to do is call your representatives, and make sure that these cuts are stopped.'
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