2025 is looking to be a pretty active year for tornadoes according to weather forecasters. That’s not exactly welcome news at the best of times, but it’s particularly concerning at the moment as Elon Musk and DOGE demanded staff cuts earlier this year meaning the organisations that deal with this sort of weather are not at full strength.
Numerous government agencies have seen mass lay-offs thanks to Musk. The National Weather Service (NWS) and its parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) were told to eliminate 1,000 workers (in addition to the 1,300 workers who had already left) by the Trump administration in March of this year.
NWS offices have been left short-staffed
Reports from forecasters suggest this may be the worst year for tornadoes since 2011. Severe storms battered parts of the country but areas like Jackson, Kentucky were not as prepared as they could have been thanks to the cuts from Musk and DOGE.
According to an article from Newsweek, the NWS offices in Jackson were short-staffed during the recent storms with there being no overnight forecaster on Friday. Naturally this is cause for concern as the weather is no joke, people’s lives are on the line and having adequate warning is vital in many cases.
The cuts from earlier this year are certainly making it more difficult to contend with the recent uptick in severe weather. Some have gone as far as to directly blame Elon Musk for the casualties. The violent storm which blew through several states left 25 dead in its wake. A few people on X suggested that Musk is indirectly responsible for the deaths.
Elon Musk gutted the National Weather Service under DOGE, leaving Kentucky without overnight forecasting during a deadly tornado outbreak. 14 dead. Lives lost for profit. #BloodOnHisHands pic.twitter.com/AhfHNlWIB0
— RP (@RPinthehousenow) May 17, 2025
Somerset, Kentucky has been declared a mass casualty event after a violent tornado struck the area last night with insufficient warning.
— André Treiber (@andrebttx) May 17, 2025
It is also in a National Weather Service coverage gap left by Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s cuts to the NWS. DOGE likely cost lives last night. pic.twitter.com/181NomiIKt
The Legislative Director for the NWS Employees Organization also pinned the blame on Musk, writing in an email, “For most of the last half century NWS has been a 24/7 operation—not anymore thanks to Elon Musk.”
The offices were fully staffed despite cuts from Musk
Although the NWS is struggling the agency made use of surge staffing and nearby offices to ensure that they were fully staffed and able to warn people about the severe weather. So it may be unfair to blame Musk and DOGE for the casualties caused by the storm, but that doesn’t exactly get them off the hook.
This was a quick fix for a desperate situation. Sure, the office was fully staffed this time thanks to them having ample time to prepare, but this might not always be the case. What happens if the NWS aren’t able to find enough staff in time? Or a bigger storm comes along and several offices all require staff in order to operate 24/7?
