Of all the disasters I’ve studied, tornadoes scare me the most.
They come with little warning and can erase entire communities in minutes — even seconds.
There’s no four-day lead-up to prepare like we often have with major hurricanes, and the winds of these storms can far exceed the most violent tropical cyclones.
In those few moments before one hits, especially if you’re sleeping, you’re at the mercy of your local weather station.
If someone is watching, they can issue a warning in those critical minutes before it’s too late.
Those few minutes after an emergency alert is issued are the difference between life and death.
That’s why experts were shocked and outraged by budget cuts made to the National Weather Service earlier this year.
Some offices were forced to no longer operate 24 hours a day back in April.
In the Jackson, Kentucky NWS office, one of the positions they were forced to cut was the full-time overnight forecaster.
The office's website even lists the "Meteorologist in Charge" position as vacant.
Overnight forecasters are responsible for monitoring severe weather outbreaks and issuing warnings while one of the most tornado-prone areas in the countries is sound asleep.
“It’s only a matter of time before these cuts lead to tragedy,” I said back in February.
Just before midnight last night, tragedy struck.
At least 27 people are dead, with more still missing, across Missouri and Kentucky.
Tornado warnings were delayed because of reduced staff. Those critical moments — a midnight warning to your phone waking you up, giving you precious seconds to find shelter — came too late for some.
The risk of these cuts creating this exact problem was known before last night.
Just one day before the disaster, on May 15, the New York Times ran an investigative piece about how DOGE cuts were undermining weather forecasting improvements.
The piece specifically included the Jackson, Kentucky NWS office as one targeted by DOGE for layoffs.
Severe weather is expected to continue today and tomorrow, and NOAA’s new PR team, now run by Trump loyalists, is scrambling to deny and diffuse the situation.
We can’t ask those who died if they received the warning, so we might never know how many lives would have been saved by having minimal staffing standards in NWS offices.
As the MAGA-rampage against science continues unabated, how many more will pay for the ignorance of this administration?
With an above-normal hurricane season starting in two week, how far will Americans let these threats to public safety go?
English (US) ·