Sen. Schumer Calls for Probe of NWS After Texas Floods

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer requested Monday that the Commerce Department's inspector general investigate whether recent staffing changes at the National Weather Service hindered forecasts and emergency warnings during last week's catastrophic flooding in Central Texas, which left at least 80 dead, the Washington Examiner reported.

Schumer called for the investigation to see whether staffing vacancies ordered under President Donald Trump compromised forecasting accuracy and contributed to the disaster's high death toll.

In a formal request to the acting inspector general of the Department of Commerce, Schumer specifically asked the watchdog to investigate if understaffing at the NWS' San Antonio office led to "delays, gaps, or diminished accuracy" in flood forecasting and alerts issued to local officials in Kerr County, which bore the brunt of deadly flooding along the Guadalupe River.

The flooding resulted in the death of more than two dozen girls and counselors at Camp Mystic. Texas officials have openly criticized the weather service's response, citing inadequate warnings. However, many in the Republican-controlled state have refrained from explicitly linking these shortfalls to the Trump administration's staffing reductions.

The NWS defended its forecasting capabilities and insisted that it had effectively issued urgent flash flood warnings in the hours leading up to the rapid rise of the waters. Local meteorologists concurred that timely warnings were issued, but expressed concern that critical alerts might not have reached residents in time due to communication lapses.

Staffing shortages at the San Antonio office have intensified scrutiny.

The office responsible for Central Texas has experienced multiple vacancies, including the crucial warning coordination meteorologist position, which was left empty after longtime official Paul Yura took an early retirement package this year as part of broader cuts implemented under the Trump administration. Currently, six out of 27 positions at the San Antonio office remain unfilled.

The Trump administration has aggressively promoted cost-cutting within the federal workforce, leading to early retirements and vacant positions across the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its subsidiary agencies. According to The Texas Tribune, federal reductions under Trump have eliminated about 10% of NOAA's staff nationally, including a 44% vacancy rate in Houston's weather service office.

Former federal officials have warned that these staffing reductions could impair vital public safety functions. Louis Uccellini, who served as director of NWS under both Republican and Democratic administrations, stated, "The people are being tired out, working through the night and then being there during the day because the next shift is short-staffed. Anything like that could create a situation in which important elements of forecasts and warnings are missed."

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick recently assured Congress that "under no circumstances" would he allow public forecasting capabilities to diminish.

President Trump defended the administration's staffing decisions, claiming Sunday that the flooding was "a thing that happened in seconds. No one expected it. Nobody saw it."

Information from the Associated Press was used in this story.