The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cut hundreds of jobs as the National Weather Service earlier this year.
The National Weather Service (NWS) issued timely forecasts and warnings in advance of Friday’s catastrophic flooding in central Texas, but long-standing staffing concerns—including unfilled leadership positions—remained a source of unease among weather professionals.Why It Matters
The devastating floods in Kerr County and neighboring areas killed at least 37 people, including 14 children, and left many more missing. The NWS, responsible for issuing critical warnings that can save lives, has recently suffered hundreds of layoffs following cost-saving directives from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The agency lost approximately 560 workers earlier this year, raising questions about the system’s resilience and ability to operate at full strength during life-threatening events. Staffing levels, particularly at the leadership and senior forecasting levels, have been under scrutiny as the country enters hurricane season amid predictions of heightened storm activity.Timeline of the Disaster and NWS Response
Tom Fahy, legislative director for the NWS Employees Organization, told NBC News that while local forecasting offices were adequately staffed during the crisis, leadership vacancies were « clearly a concern. »
Catastrophic flooding struck central Texas on Friday as the Guadalupe River surged by more than 20 to 26 feet within 90 minutes, causing widespread devastation and forcing mass evacuations.
Some officials took issue with the forecast warning, which they said was nowhere near the levels of flooding that occurred. Texas Department of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd told reporters on Saturday that « everybody got the forecast from the National Weather Service, right? You all got it, you’re all in media, you got that forecast. It did not predict the amount of rain that we saw. »
The NWS office in Austin/San Antonio conducted forecast briefings for emergency management on July 3, issued a Flood Watch at 1:18 p.m., and escalated to Flash Flood Warnings in the night and early morning hours, providing more than three hours’ lead time before the flooding reached critical thresholds.
