Cuts could exacerbate strain of staff vacancies

NOAA administrator.

Former National Hurricane Center Director Rick Knabb said it was difficult to keep the center fully staffed. Knabb, whose official last day as director was May 13, is now a hurricane expert for the Weather Channel.

“It was always a challenge to fill empty positions, and we were taxing the staff that we did have as far as we could,” Knabb said during an interview this month on the Weather Channel show “Weather Geeks.” “If you are going to not only maintain the mission, but also enhance it, that’s where the resource challenges really show.”

The National Hurricane Center is down six positions, including the director’s job and three forecasters. By the end of 2017, three more management positions will be vacant because of retirements, including 35-year NOAA veteran James Franklin, whose last day as branch chief of the hurricane specialist unit is June 30.

The vacancies are something University of Georgia’s Atmospheric Sciences Program Director J. Marshall Shepherd said is a matter of national security.

“It’s dangerous to propose deep cuts to the very programs that protect lives and property,” echoed U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, lead Democrat on the Commerce Committee.

The overall proposed reduction to NOAA of 17 percent is equal to about $996 million.

Kirtman, the UM professor, said lawmakers told him NOAA’s budget will be “significantly modified” to reduce the amount of cuts and more closely match the Weather Forecasting Innovation Act.

“I’m cautiously optimistic,” Kirtman said. “But I still have concerns.”