'They lost lives': Ex-prosecutor blasts Trump cuts to weather agency as storms kill dozens

Recently reported cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) couldn't come at a worse time, an ex-prosecutor said.

Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance weighed in on cuts by Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency team.

"Cuts like that call into question whether NOAA will continue to provide the early warnings and predictive modeling that help people prepare for weather emergencies in advance," Vance wrote. "People who live in hurricane and tornado country keep their 'NOAA weather radios' handy, and they are especially important for events that occur, as they frequently do, when most of us are asleep."

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She then added, "In theory, it sounds like one more bad thing to worry about. In practice, it’s much worse. We’ve just had a demonstration of precisely how effective NOAA is and what we stand to lose without it."

Vance continued:

"Beginning on Friday, violent, long-track tornadoes with damaging winds of up to 80 mph and large hail materialized across the Midwest and South. This was the news Friday night. NOAA’s early warning system, transmitted on social media, radio, television, and by word of mouth, kept it from being much worse."

Saturday, she said, "was even worse."

"Here in Birmingham, the alerts started midday," Vance wrote. "At 12:27 pm, I got the first alert through the UA campus system, telling me that in light of what was expected, I should seek shelter now instead of waiting for an actual tornado warning. The system sends alerts after the National Weather Service makes the call about what to expect. The National Weather Service (NWS) is a component of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)."

Vance tied her experience to the DOGE cuts.

"How much worse would it have been without the accurate forecasting that let our local news people and local emergency systems warn folks in the storms’ paths sufficiently in advance to get to their safe places?" the legal expert asked. "As much as I don’t like to think about it, if Trump and DOGE stay on their current path, we are going to be forced to. Mother Nature doesn’t care who you voted for. If there’s a tornado headed your direction, you need access to early warning systems. Gutting NOAA means you won’t have that."

While Vance said she is safe, others weren't so lucky.

"We were fortunate last night. Everyone in our house (chickens included) is okay, we just have a little cleanup to do. But so many people weren’t that lucky. They lost houses and lives," she said. "They will need support from FEMA and other federal services. If DOGE continues its romp through essential federal work that we, as taxpayers, fund and rely on, it’s only going to get worse."

For his part, Trump offered prayers with his wife.

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