Investigation Launched Into NOAA Staffing Shortages Amid Texas Floods

SAN ANTONIO – The Department of Commerce’s Office of the Inspector General will investigate staffing shortages at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Weather Service (NWS). This follows deadly flooding in Texas that has claimed at least 135 lives this month.

Rep. Greg Casar announced on Friday that he secured an independent investigation into staffing levels at these agencies, especially in Texas. Casar, along with Reps. Jasmine Crockett and Robert Garcia, initiated the request via an oversight letter dated July 11, expressing concern over ‘severe shortages’ that impacted local offices during the crisis.

‘Texans deserve answers about how these severe cuts to the National Weather Service affected the federal response to the devastating Hill Country floods,’ Casar told KSAT. ‘We need to do this to respect the dead, and to ensure people’s safety in the future.’

The letter highlighted key vacancies such as a staff forecaster and a lead meteorologist at the time of the flooding. Another office lacked essential positions that assist local emergency managers with warnings and evacuations.

NWS issued several flash flood warnings early on July 4, but the effectiveness of these alerts has come into question. The letter mentioned, ‘While NWS did issue several flood warning alerts… there are concerns about the effectiveness of those warnings.’

Shedding light on past actions, the letter blamed staffing cuts initiated by the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). ‘Arbitrary cuts to vital services like NWS hurt emergency preparedness and put lives in danger,’ it stated, noting that NWS has lost over 10% of its workforce since the beginning of the Trump administration.

Casar emphasized the need for a review of coordination and communication between state authorities, emergency personnel, NWS, local media, and other groups. ‘It needs to be very clear what the failures were at every single level of government,’ he said.

Rep. Joaquin Castro and other Texas Democrats also expressed concerns, prompting the Commerce Department to review whether staffing vacancies affected the NWS’s response to high-impact weather events. An audit into NWS field office effectiveness is already in work, according to Duane Townsend, acting inspector general for the Commerce Department.

More than 130 people have died from the recent floods affecting Texas Hill Country, with over 100 still reported missing as of July 15. President Trump has urged admiration for the emergency response personnel, despite questions about the effectiveness of warning systems.