The Tribune

By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

WITH sweeping staff cuts threatening the reliability of the United States’ key weather agency, a top Bahamian disaster official is urging greater regional cooperation to avoid overdependence on foreign forecasting support.

Aaron Sargent, Managing Director of the Disaster Risk Management Authority, said Caribbean countries must urgently strengthen ties and share resources as the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) faces budget reductions that could undermine regional resilience.

“NOAA, FEMA or UK USAID provide significant support to the region,” Mr Sargent said on Friday. “And as such, we now have to find creative ways to try and mitigate any potential exposure that the closures or cuts to these entities may bring.”

His comments follow recent reports that NOAA has already cut over 880 employees — more than seven percent of its workforce — and plans to shed more than 1,000 additional workers this year, reducing its total staff by about 20 percent. The layoffs have disrupted critical weather services, including balloon launches and environmental modelling, according to CNN and Reuters.

Mr Sargent said regional disaster coordinators are actively discussing how to respond. He said an after-action review meeting in Barbados on Hurricane Ferrel focused heavily on how Caribbean nations can better support each other in the face of weakening international aid.

“The beauty of the Caribbean is we all experience the same thing,” he said. “You would find a number of national disaster coordinators face the same problems. And so we’re trying to work together more efficiently to resolve some of the challenges in the region.”

He said Bahamian officials are considering re-engagement with the Caribbean Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology to strengthen regional forecasting capabilities. The institute provides satellite imagery, temperature trend analysis, and flood risk tools –– services that could become increasingly important if NOAA’s capacity continues to decline.

Amid the layoffs, reports have surfaced that the Trump-aligned “Project 2025” transition plan could push for NOAA’s partial privatisation, slashing climate research and outsourcing public weather services. Outlets, including Forbes and PBS NewsHour, have raised concerns that if NOAA’s forecasts become subscription-based, the public may lose access to life-saving alerts such as hurricane or tornado warnings.

The Union of Concerned Scientists has also warned that breaking up NOAA would undermine the accuracy and accessibility of critical weather data, particularly in vulnerable, lower-income regions like the Caribbean that depend heavily on US-supported early warning systems.

CBS News further reported that emergency responders could struggle to access timely and precise forecasts as NOAA’s workforce continues to shrink.

Mr Sargent acknowledged these risks and said stronger regional frameworks — including more investment in youth training and cross-border programmes — will be key to closing the gap.

He pointed to the Disaster Risk Reduction Youth Ambassador Programme as an example of how targeted international funding can help offset domestic limitations. The programme, he said, was created after donors asked what gaps had emerged due to resource constraints.