Trump Job Cuts Hobble NOAA Team That Reopens Ports After Hurricanes

At least six NWS offices have also stopped routine weather balloon launches that collect data for weather models.

WASHINGTON, June 3 (Reuters) - A Florida-based federal emergency response team that reopens U.S. ports after storms and accidents is unstaffed this hurricane season largely due to widespread federal workforce reductions driven by the Trump administration, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

The closure of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s Navigation Response Team in Fernandina, Florida – one of the network’s six national locations - could mean slower response times and longer port closures if hurricanes slam into the U.S. Southeast this summer, the sources said.

The teams are charged with deploying survey vessels to ports to locate underwater hazards that must be cleared to reopen shipping, and have been crucial in the aftermath 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 Key Bridge in Baltimore.

“I know that the Florida navigation response team is completely out of commission for this hurricane season, in large part due to staffing cuts,” said former NOAA Administrator Richard Spinrad, who has been in contact with the agency.

Retired rear admiral Tim Gaulladet, who served as deputy NOAA administrator during the first Trump presidency, also said he is aware that the Florida location is no longer staffed, and that other offices have less capacity.