00:00A congressional investigation has revealed that over 600 National Weather Service employees
00:05have been laid off or forced out in the past year. Experts warn the timing could not be more
00:11dangerous. Tornado season is ramping up across the central and southern United States right now.
00:16The NWS is the organization responsible for issuing life-saving warnings.
00:21These warnings give Americans minutes to shelter before a tornado strikes.
00:26In Michigan this March, an EF-4 tornado killed three people. Federal weather officials later
00:32confirmed that no tornado watch had been issued. The reason was a lack of staffing at the National
00:37Weather Service. Officials say they could not detect the storm's rapid development in time.
00:43Governor Gretchen Whitmer has demanded a federal investigation. She wants to know whether Trump's
00:49funding cuts contributed to those deaths. Meteorologists across the country are now
00:54raising alarms. Without enough staff, weather balloon launches are being canceled.
00:59These balloon launches are critical for storm prediction. Overnight forecaster positions are
01:04also going unstaffed. The National Weather Service has always been America's first line of defense
01:10against extreme weather. Scientists now warn that this line of defense is becoming dangerously thin.
01:16The National deduction is taking offence
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