A housing advocate warns that changes to the agency that provides national weather forecasting could lead to dangerous situations in the High Country.
Last month, the Trump Administration and the Department of Government Efficiency began cuts of about 1,000 positions at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA.
In September, the forecasts from the weather monitoring service sent workers at Hospitality House into motion ahead of Helene.
Chief Development Director Todd Carter says the Boone-based nonprofit was able to get many homeless people living in the woods and by the rivers into shelters before the storm hit.
Carter says he’s concerned people could die if the weather information Hospitality House and first responders rely on is less available due to cuts by the Trump Administration.
“They make their information available free because it's to help the humans on the ground make life-saving decisions," he says. "We cannot afford to have that go away. Literally, people are not going to make it.”
It’s not just natural disasters where the NOAA data is invaluable, Carter says. Employees know that when there’s a forecast for severe cold, their shelters will be full, and more staff will be needed.