Strange As the Weather Has Been

 

Watauga County's Hospitality House, "a western North Carolina housing nonprofit that provides 'critical' services" to Watauga, Wilkes, Ashe, Avery, Alleghany, Mitchell, and Yancey counties, is now able to mobilize for action ahead of storms -- early -- because Hospitality House has equipment (radios) to receive emergency alerts through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). They were gifted the radios by the National Weather Service (NWS) during Hurricane Helene, when the storm knocked out cell service. NWS is a vital and wholly practical sub-unit of NOAA.

DOGE and Musk couldn't care less. They are putting at risk Hospitality House's current ability to plan ahead for weather disasters, of which the mountains of Western North Carolina are well supplied. DOGE is trying to slash more than 2,000 NOAA jobs, many of those stationed in Western NC as analysts and forecasters who write the weather alerts that Hospitality House relies on.

Todd Carter, development director for Hospitality House, spoke about the potential for "lives being lost" in a YouTube panel discussion yesterday, "Forecasting Disaster: How DOGE’s Cuts to NOAA Will Affect Weather Awareness and Well-Being," sponsored by the Center for American Progress. Elon Musk has a chainsaw and the license to slash. Musk has his own weather department; what does he need with NOAA and NWS? 

"Not everything should be for sale, not everything should be for profit,” Carter told the panel.