MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – The abrupt termination of several National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration employees, including experienced hurricane modelers, has sparked concerns among experts about the agency’s ability to provide accurate storm forecasts.
Among those laid off was Andy Hazelton, a federal meteorologist specializing in hurricane modeling.
Hazelton, a father of four, said he was blindsided by the decision.
“I got a performance review recently that said I was doing a good job. I won NOAA awards for team member of the year,” Hazelton told Local 10′s Christina Vazquez on Friday. “Our big mission is to protect lives and property.”
Hazelton’s work fed critical data into models used by the National Weather Service, television meteorologists and emergency managers to track hurricanes.
“All the weather data that you use, whether it is an app on your phone or what you see on TV, a lot of that comes from the National Weather Service and NOAA — the satellites, the radars, the modeling,” he said. “When you see the spaghetti lines on TV, that is what I do. I am the brains behind the computer that makes that spaghetti line.”
He learned of his termination through an impersonal email.
“It was like a chain blanket email to everybody,” Hazelton said. “My supervisor didn’t even know I would be terminated. Lab management didn’t know. It was a high-level thing.”
Hurricane Experts Warn of Forecasting Risks
James Franklin, a retired hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center, said the layoffs included experienced modelers and flight directors.
“These are some senior people who were terminated,” he said. “Some have algorithms named after them because of what they have accomplished over the years. The kind of improvements we’ve seen that allow people to rely on these forecasts is at risk now for not having any more of that improvement.”
Franklin pointed to NOAA’s Aircraft Operations Center, which flies reconnaissance missions into hurricanes.
“They lost two flight directors,” he added. “Those people really are heroes. One of the concerns is whether the AOC will be able to fly NOAA aircraft when the hurricane center needs them this summer.”
Former National Hurricane Center Director and Local 10 Hurricane Specialist Max Mayfield also voiced concerns.
“The other countries in our region also benefit from NOAA Hurricane Reconnaissance and Hurricane Surveillance Flights,” he said.
A Washington, D.C.-based NOAA employee who was also terminated, Tom Di Liberto, called the cuts dangerous.
“Because of these firings, we are less safe than we were yesterday,” Di Liberto said. “These needless cuts before we get into tornado season and hurricane season serve no purpose besides making us less prepared for weather extremes and save us no money. NOAA will always remain true to its mission of serving the American public. These layoffs do the opposite.”
Hazelton, who has worked for NOAA for nearly a decade — first as a contractor through Princeton University and the University of Miami before becoming a federal employee last October — said many terminated workers were highly experienced.
“There were several of us in the same boat, and all of us have five, 10, 15 years of experience, even though we were new to these positions,” he said.
The cuts have been described as a “brain drain” that could impact services Americans rely on.
Some of those fired were labeled as “probationary” employees, a classification that includes experienced federal workers who had recently been promoted.
NOAA did not address specific concerns, but said in a statement that it “cannot speculate about potential impacts at this time.”
Local 10 has obtained Hazelton’s termination letter which can be read below.