9 Investigates

9 Investigates: National Weather Service staffing problems

ORLANDO, Fla. — The National Weather Service provides a crucial service that saves lives, but 9 Investigates discovered that the agency has struggled for years to maintain staffing levels, leaving some to question whether it's prepared for another natural disaster.

Daniel Sobien of the National Weather Service Employees Organization, a trade union, said a 2016 report listed 643 job vacancies at the agency.

"To be down 700 positions, a lot of those are meteorologists, that’s a lot of people," Sobien said. "We, the National Weather Service, can’t do certain functions we used to do."

The NWS, which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, disputes those numbers, saying the situation has improved.

Currently, there are 305 current openings at the NWS' 122 weather forecast offices.

The agency said there are 16 funded vacancies at its six Florida weather forecast offices and eight funded vacancies at the National Hurricane Center.

The NWS in 2016 employed more than 4,200 employees, 86 percent of whom worked in field offices. A 2017 audit determined that open positions were filled within 64 to 467 days.

"We need to bring new people into the weather service," NWS Deputy Director Mary Erickson told 9 Investigates' Christopher Heath. "We pride ourselves on making sure we always get the mission done, making sure we have key people in place to protect life and property."

The NWS said it moves employees to places ahead of major weather events, such as hurricanes, and sends in additional staff to assist with prolonged natural disasters, such as flooding and wildfires.

In 2017, the agency brought in extra staff members to track Hurricane Irma ahead of the storm's approach, Erickson said.

"We are always preparing ourselves," she said. "We have a four-level backup across our systems."

But employees said changes have come too slow and too many employees are overworked.

"Some of them have been working months without a day off," Sobien said. "When you are tired, you make mistakes sometimes."

A 2012 review by the National Academy of Sciences determined that the quality of the NWS' warning capability corresponds with its "capability to muster an ample, fully trained local staff at its weather forecast offices as severe weather unfolds," a Government Accountability Office report said.

"Because operational unit managers and staff were doing work to cover for vacancies, they were unable at times to perform other key tasks, according to officials across the NWS units we interviewed," the report said.

Money doesn't appear to be the problem.

The GAO report determined that the NWS had the funding to hire staff, but the positions remained unfilled, highlighting what critics said is a slow process of attracting and hiring candidates.

The NWS, which has a budget of more than $1 billion, is improving its staffing, Erickson said.

The agency said it recently hired a contractor to assist with hiring and worked to streamline its career advancement process.

Although Erickson didn't specify when the NWS will fill its vacancies, she said further improvements are coming and the agency is prepared for sudden weather events.

Nonetheless, there remain concerns.

The Trump administration in its 2018 budget recommendation has proposed slashing the NWS' budget by about 8 percent and eliminating 355 jobs, including 248 forecasting positions.

Congress hasn't acted on the president’s proposal and isn't expected to take up the budget this year.

Watch Tom Terry's report three minutes in to the video below:

WATCH LIVE: Special Report - Tom Terry reports on the National Weather Service personnel shortage

WATCH: Chief meteorologist Tom Terry, WFTV discusses the staffing shortage at the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS). at.wftv.com/2EQn4u8

Posted by WFTV Channel 9 on Thursday, February 22, 2018