Hurricane season is underway and it looks like there are fewer people watching for storms along the Gulf of Mexico. The Trump White House has reportedly made staff cuts to fifteen National Weather Service centers that serve the Gulf. That’s at the start of what’s supposed to be an above average hurricane season. Morgan Barry is a senior forecaster with the National Weather Service in Mobile. She says the official prediction of up to five major storms doesn’t tell the whole story.
“It only takes one storm in our area to be a bad season. Most of those could stay out to sea or they could impact land. So the Outlook doesn't necessarily indicate whether or not any of those will hit land,” Barry said.
With predictions for a busy hurricane season beginning Sunday, experts in storms and disasters are worried about something potentially as chaotic as the swirling winds: Massive cuts to the federal system that forecasts, tracks and responds to hurricanes. Experts are alarmed over the large-scale staff reductions, travel and training restrictions and grant cut-offs since President Donald Trump took office at both the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which prepares for and responds to hurricanes, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which tracks and forecasts them. As for the general public, Mobile Senior Forecaster Barry says even inland cities like Montgomery, Tuscaloosa, and Birmingham need to be on guard.
“You know, flooding rains, so heavy rains leading to flash flooding and river flooding, those are huge concerns inland, as well as obviously the wind, especially if it's a big hurricane that has a lot of wind with it,” Barry observed,.
This year’s official forecast also includes a strong monsoon season off the west coast of African where Hurricanes are born. About 2,000 full-time staff have left FEMA since Trump took office in January, a loss of roughly one-third of the agency's full-time workforce, amid Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) mandated cuts. Scholars who study emergency management are concerned by both the reduction in capacity and the "brain drain" of experienced staff.
