1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

Congress must act now to restore funding and staffing to NOAA, the National Weather Service, FEMA, and the Ocean Observatories Initiative. Hurricane season is here, El Niño is active, and the administration has gutted the exact systems Americans depend on to survive these disasters. That is not a policy disagreement — it is a public safety emergency. The damage is staggering. NSF lost roughly 40% of its staff. NOAA's workforce has been slashed. The OOI — over 900 instruments monitoring ocean conditions, coastal flooding, and AMOC stability — is being dismantled right now, with recovery of four of five arrays already underway. NOAA's Mauna Loa Observatory and its Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disaster dataset are targeted. These aren't abstract research programs. They are the backbone of the forecasting and early-warning systems that tell families when to evacuate. This dismantlement does not comply with legislation Congress passed to fund and maintain these agencies. Congress has both the authority and the obligation to stop it. Protecting Americans from hurricanes, floods, and climate disasters is not partisan — it's the job. Rebuild the staffing, restore the funding, and make sure the infrastructure that keeps people alive is fully operational before the next storm makes landfall.