This year marks the first time that local NWS offices have stopped round-the-clock operations in the agency’s history
More than 60 people have died due to this year’s tornadoes, most of which have centered on the Mississippi River valley – about 500 miles east of the traditional heart of “tornado alley” of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. That unusual eastward shift may also be making tornado outbreaks more dangerous, bringing them in closer proximity to more people than the relatively sparsely populated plains states.
Cuts to the weather service by Trump and DOGE have left NWS local forecast offices critically understaffed throughout this year’s heightened severe weather. In April, an internal document reportedly described how cuts could create a situation of “degraded” operations – shutting down core services one by one until it reaches an equilibrium that doesn’t overtax its remaining employees.
The changing climate is also making simultaneous weather disasters more likely, such as overlapping tornadoes and flash floods – creating emergency preparedness difficulties and compounding the effects of funding cuts.
It’s sorta like how anti-vaxxers put themselves in line to stop procreating. Dumbass rural voters who hate Trans people and Brown people voted to experience the worst hardships when natural disasters occur. I will not play a tiny violin. I will laugh my ass off as I’m safe in my dense urban city.
Your dense urban city is not safe from natural disasters. See Katrina and New Orleans or NYC and superstorm Sandy. We all get fucked by this.
Sadly, you are absolutely correct. We all collectively pay for their racism and insecurities.
My dense urban city is not in the pathway of frequent natural disasters. I mean, it is because of a faultline, but earthquakes are somewhat rare. Big ones are super rare.
People living in tornado valley, howerver… get tornadoes every summer. And people living along the southeast coast get hurricanes pretty regularly.
I will continue to laugh at the ignorant racists who voted to cut their funding for emergency relief.
Wildfires and drought count.