Tonight, rescuers are desperately searching for at least 173 people still missing in Texas. As the death toll rises to 120 from Friday's devastating flash floods. With such a large scale of loss, people are angry and understandably very upset.They want someone or something to blame. Many are pointing to the National Weather Service cuts as a reason why some areas were taken by surprise. But this meteorologist cautions about jumping to that or any conclusion yet.People have been speculating that National Wea ...

NBC Sahil Kapoor reports from Capitol Hill. I also want to bring in Dr.. Irwin Redliner, founding director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University's Earth Institute. Sahill. So, if he gets the job, he is facing the potential for having an awful lot of money that would be needed for some of the upgrades he's talking about gone for next year's budget. Bring us up to speed. Yeah, that's right, Chris. And it's not just Neil Jacobs for Noah related opening. There's also Mr.. Taylo ...

Disaster Overview - Central Texas catastrophic flooding resulted in 104 lives lost, including at least 28 children [1] - Approximately 5 million people were under flood watch in Central Texas [1] - Water levels rose 20-30 feet (approximately 6-9 meters) in an hour in some areas [5] Staffing and Budget Cuts Impact - Staff vacancies in Texas weather offices occurred before a busy hurricane season [2] - Concerns were raised about the impact of staffing cuts at the National Weather Service [2] - The head of local weather warnings took early retirement due to Trump administration cuts at NOAA [3] - A hiring freeze under the Trump administration made filling the Warning Coordination Meteorologist role challenging [4] - The Austin/San Antonio office was missing its Warning Coordination Meteorologist [14] - Research positions at NOAA, responsible for improving weather models, have been cut [15][16] Climate Change and Disaster Forecasting - Climate change is causing climate chaos and unpredictability in severe weather events [12] - The Trump administration is seen as undercutting science and not paying attention to climate change [9][10] - The administration's actions are lessening the country's readiness to protect people and provide warnings [9]

NOAA is proposing cutting about 18% of its workforce and slashing $1.5 billion from its budget, including terminating programs to protect coastal communities and research that supports better forecasts and natural disaster prediction. https://t.co/b68yD54kJt ...

Weather Forecasting Concerns - Federal funding cuts to national climate organizations are expected to impact weather forecasting nationwide [1] - Reduced or suspended weather balloon launches at key sites are impacting severe weather forecasting [1] - The National Weather Service has experienced a reduction of almost 600 workers due to layoffs and buyouts [1] - Concerns exist that understaffed weather forecast offices could lead to needless loss of life [1] - A new bill in Congress aims to protect weather service workers from future federal budget cuts and classify them as critical to public safety [3] Agency Response - The National Weather Service states it is hiring over 100 people to stabilize operations across the country [2] - The Trump administration claims the agency will have enough resources despite criticism [2] - The agency asserts it is fully staffed with forecasters and scientists and will not compromise public safety or forecasting [3] Extreme Weather Events - Hurricane Milton rapidly intensified from a weak tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in just 24 hours [4] - Erratic weather patterns from climate change are posing a threat to the forecasting industry [5]