National Weather Service no longer translating emergency warnings
PHOENIX (AZFamily)— The National Weather Service sends alerts to phones and posts on social media during severe weather events to keep people safe. Now, however, some people will lose access to life-saving information as the organization can only send out alerts in English.
As severe weather rages through parts of the country, changes are being made to how information about weather alerts is spread.
This change impacts nearly 68 million people across the country who speak another language.
“That number is about 25% of our community members here in Arizona,” University of Arizona Professor and Director of Heat Resilience Initiative Ladd Keith said.
Two years ago, the NWS partnered with an AI company that began translating weather alerts, social media posts and information on their websites into five other languages. This was a big help to the NWS staff because it was less labor-intensive. NOAA says the contract with the provider has lapsed.
“These alerts are really critical for people to personally plan their days and maybe avoid dangerous activities during times of extreme weather, but also for businesses to know how to protect their employees especially if they are outdoor workers,” Keith said.
This comes as around 10%, or 1,000 people, were fired from NOAA after a round of job cuts under the Trump administration.
“We have already seen instances with severe tornado outbreaks in the United States this spring, where the staff was too short-staffed to go out and do recognizance missions and understand the impact of those tornadoes on the ground,” said Keith.
Meteorologists say this will put millions of lives in danger. In Arizona, we usually get alerts about dust storms or severe thunderstorms in the area. Keith believes things are going in the wrong direction.
“We should really be investing in it and its products rather than cutting it,” he said.
The cuts are also impacting how the NWS understands and predicts weather patterns, including severe weather events. The agency uses balloons to collect data, but some offices had to scale back their use because of layoffs.
Arizona’s Family reached out to NOAA to see if any Arizona NWS offices have been impacted by staffing cuts or reduced balloon launches. We have not heard back.
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