The logo of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) is seen during a news conference at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, on May 30, 2025.
Chandan Khanna | AFP | Getty Images
A Florida-based federal emergency responseteamthatreopensU.S.portsafterstorms and accidents is unstaffed this hurricane seasonlargely due towidespread federal workforce reductions driven by theTrumpadministration, according to twosourcesfamiliar with the matter.
The closure of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s Navigation ResponseTeamin Fernandina, Florida – one of the network’s six national locations – could mean slower response times and longer port closures ifhurricanesslam into the U.S. Southeast this summer, thesourcessaid.
Theteams are charged with deploying survey vessels toportsto locate underwater hazards that must be cleared to reopen shipping, and have been crucial in theaftermath of major storms like those that struck the Gulf Coast in recent years, as well as disasters like the 2024 collapse of the Francis Scott KeyBridge in Baltimore.
“I know that the Florida navigation responseteamis completely out of commission for this hurricane season, in large part due to staffingcuts,” said formerNOAAAdministrator Richard Spinrad, who has been in contact with the agency.
Retired rear admiral Tim Gaulladet, who served as deputyNOAAadministrator during the firstTrumppresidency, also said he is aware that the Florida location is no longer staffed, and that other offices have less capacity.
NOAAdid not respond to a specific question about the status of the Florida NRT and reduced NRT staffing but said the agency would be prepared this hurricane season.
“In the event thatportsare impacted by a hurricane or maritime disaster,NOAAwill mobilize one or more Navigation ResponseTeams to be on sceneafterreceiving an official request from the U.S. Coast Guard or Army Corps of Engineers,”NOAAspokesperson Jasmine Blackwell said.Other NRT locations include Connecticut, Maryland, Mississippi, Washington state, and Galveston, Texas – a major U.S. oil-industry port. The NRT’s home website was changed in March to remove both the Florida and Galveston, Texas locations, according to archived images of the site.
NOAAdid not respond to queries about the status of other locations and employees.
The American Pilots Association did not directly comment on thecutsbut said they will ensure that their members, consisting of harbor pilots who guide commercial ships in and out of U.S.ports, will continue to carry out this function and that its members who are ship captains and harbor pilots have the resourcesthey need to protect maritime commerce.
Above-average season
NOAA’s National Weather Service in May forecast an above-average June 1-Nov. 30 hurricane season with six to 10hurricanes. Its director, Ken Graham, said at the time he did not expectjobcutsatNOAAto affect hurricane response.
Butsourcessaid staffcutswhich have amountedto around 1,000 people or 10% of its workforce so far have stretched the agency thin.
Around 600 of thecutsare withinNOAA’s National Weather Service, said Tom Fahy, legislative director for the National Weather Service Employees Organization.
He said thecutsmean the loss for the first time of around-the-clock staffing at several U.S. weather offices, and staffing shortages of 40% in some key places like Miami-Dade and Key West in Florida.
At least six NWS offices have also stopped the routine twice-a-day weather balloon launches that collect data for weather models, he said.
“The employees’ resilience has been stretched to the breaking point,” he said.
WhileNOAAattempts to reshuffle staff to keep services going, a period of overlapping weather events – like tornadoes, wildfires andhurricanesall at once – could push the already stretched staff to its limits and make things impossible, said Spinrad.
“This is like playingWhac-a-Molewith forecasters,” he said. “We’re going to be hard pressed to provide the standard of service that the public is used to.”
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