Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is calling for a federal investigation into whether staffing shortages at key National Weather Service (NWS) offices contributed to the catastrophic flooding that killed dozens of people in central Texas over the Fourth of July weekend.
In a letter sent Monday to the Commerce Department’s acting inspector general, Schumer urged an immediate probe of vacant forecasting and coordination roles at the NWS offices in San Antonio and San Angelo, which oversee the affected region.
“The American people deserve answers,” Schumer wrote, adding later in the letter, “To honor the lives of those lost, we have a responsibility to the American people to determine if preventable failures contributed to this tragedy—and to ensure that it never happens again.”…