Thousands of cuts have been made to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and former employees are protesting these cuts.
They demonstrated against the reduction in Downtown Miami this past weekend, as it is officially storm season.
Not very long ago, Andy Hazelton was flying for NOAA to collect data. He was fired in February 2025, having only joined the agency in October 2024. He had no idea why.
“We’re public safety, and what we do matters for everybody, like I said,” Hazelton stated. “It’s not political.”
Following budget cuts, John Cortinas stated that he retired from the NOAA office at Virginia Key. He expressed disapproval of the agency’s current course.
“I was worried about what was happening and what we see happening, and I didn’t want to be a part of that,” Cortinas stated.
Since January, over 2,200 NOAA personnel have been let go or purchased. The National Weather Service, which runs the National Hurricane Center, employed about 500 workers.
The cuts sparked a demonstration in Downtown Miami on Sunday.
“The work we do in a lot of ways pays for itself and is really one of the most efficient things out there,” Hazelton stated.
“Many of these cuts happened just before hurricane season. And now that we’re in hurricane season, many of these protestors feel these cuts make them vulnerable.”
Mike Brennan, director of the National Hurricane Center, discussed the organization’s hurricane season readiness.
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“We’re fully operational, ready for the hurricane season,” he stated. “Our products, services and warnings are going to go out as they always do.”
However, demonstrators believe that science is being attacked by the cuts.
“To think that our federal government would even consider cutting scientific research that could literally be life-saving for so many millions of people that live along the coastline here in Florida.” Miami Indivisible, a progressive grassroots political organization, said Raquel Pacheco, “It’s just appalling and it’s shocking.”
According to the Trump administration, the reductions are a component of a larger plan to reduce federal spending and automate the federal workforce.
