Dr. Andrew Hazelton is one of the nation’s Hurricane Hunters.
He was part of the crews that would fly deep into powerful hurricanes as they churned in the ocean, all to collect data to help forecasters improve predictions on the storm’s power and direction. But, he was among the first rounds of layoffs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.
He said his job loss – and the thousands that have followed – are making Americans less safe.
“Because you could see the forecast improvements that we’ve come to count on or rely on could be reversed,” he told The Independent. “And, that would lead to more damage, potentially, and more loss of life. And, that’s not what we want to see.”
Dr. Andrew Hazelton was laid off in the first round of cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 12,000-strong workforce last month. More layoffs are expected imminently. Hazelton says these decisions could threaten lives (Andrew Hazelton)
President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, though his Department of Government Efficiency, have sought to trim the federal budget. They are looking at shrinking the workforce and have pushed for cuts across the federal government, including NOAA.
About 800 agency workers were laid off in February with another 1,000 let go last week.
Advocates have blasted the cuts at NOAA. They have pointed to how little the agency costs each taxpayer per day, when compared to the return. They note how the agency provides much of the data that weather forecasting is based on. They say losing people hurts their work, which could make people less safe when severe weather is on the horizon.
“So it is, like, cutting off your nose to spite your face. Which seems a bit counterintuitive if your goal is really to serve the American people,” a former agency official previously told The Independent.
Still, it hasn’t slowed DOGE’s efforts to shrink the NOAA workforce, including Hazelton.
Scientists such as Hazelton fly into hurricanes to collect crucial data that cannot be retrieved using satellites. The data helps to improve hurricane forecasts (Andrew Hazelton)
Hazelton grew up in central Florida and has been into the weather since he was a kid. Three hurricanes went through his county in 2004. They cemented his interest in the field.
He went to Florida State and got a bachelor’s degree in meteorology before working his way to a doctorate. After completing his Ph.D., Hazelton started working at NOAA – where he served for eight years. He later took on a federal position working for the Environment Modeling Center.
“I always knew I wanted to come back and work for NOAA and sort of be involved in all this. So, it definitely was kind of a dream and it’s obviously sort of disappointing what’s happening now,” he explained.
Hazelton and the Hurricane Hunters flew into hurricanes to collect critical data that gives scientists a three-dimensional picture inside the storm. It’s data that cannot be collected from satellites and is used by the National Hurricane Center to diagnose what the storm is doing and gets fed into computer models to help make forecasting more accurate.
It’s no easy feat and the ride can be “pretty bumpy,” he noted. There were some “nasty parts” of Hurricane Helene’s eyewall, for example.
“It’s exciting, but can also it be a little unnerving sometimes, too,” he said.
Hazelton says NOAA was already understaffed. He said that the agency will be strained unless decisions are reversed (Andrew Hazelton)
Over the years, hurricane forecasting has improved, shrinking the cones that contain the probable path of the storm’s center. Last year, the National Hurricane Center’s forecast track performance was “its best in history” for the Atlantic hurricane season.
“Now, the five-day forecast error [margin] is about like what the one or two-day error was 30 years ago, which is pretty remarkable,” said Hazelton.
The forecast track error is the distance between the forecast location and the actual location of the center of the storm.
Like many, Hazelton is waiting to see what comes from federal rulings that could perhaps temporarily reinstate fired probationary workers. Until then, NOAA is feeling the weight of these losses.
“There are a lot of forecast offices and places that are understaffed. So, it’s just going to be a lot of strain across the enterprise,” he said. “…You hope that it doesn’t lead to any big forecast issues, but you never know.”
