Aging and unreliable aircraft, chronic crew and staff shortages, and poor coordination between top brass at NOAA and the Air Force has put the nation’s Hurricane Hunter program on life support, according to new findings from the Government Accountability Office.
In a report reviewing the nation’s readiness for weather disasters, GAO painted a portrait of a program both technologically and operationally deficient to meet its mission, even as storms grow more dangerous in an increasingly volatile climate.
Among other problems, NOAA and Air Force officials told investigators that aircraft availability and insufficient staffing grounded two flights into Hurricane Helene’s eyewall last year.
Such mission cancellations have been growing since 2014, but NOAA and the Air Force “have not systematically tracked the reasons for this,” according to investigators who reported their findings Friday to Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, chair of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, and Rick Scott of Florida and Roger Wicker of Mississippi, whose states are home to hurricane hunter operations.
