On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Situation Room,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) praised the National Weather Service for giving the state warning about disasters in the state and the FEMA response and said that “I do hope the administration, in seeing all these natural disasters and how important it is that we respond the best every time, maybe reverses some of those cuts, and I’d be happy to talk to them about it, because, again, the help they’ve given us in Kentucky has been really good.”
After Beshear said that the state was ready thanks to the National Weather Service and “our meteorologists,” co-host Pamela Brown asked, “You’re emphasizing the importance of the National Weather Service. It says it won’t be able to survey the damage and confirm suspected tornadoes for several days due to staffing issues. Now, the office said it’s due to spring break and several people having time off scheduled. But we asked if anyone was laid off recently or took the buyout from the Trump administration. It wouldn’t comment on that. What do you know about that?”
Beshear answered, “Well, first, let me say that President Trump and Secretary Noem have answered the call every time we’ve asked. They very quickly signed the disaster declarations. They approved individual and public assistance in our floods in February. I’ve been highly critical of the president on a number of different topics, but that has not stopped them from doing the right thing and doing it quickly in these circumstances. So, let me tell you, FEMA is operating really well, and I’ve seen a lot of FEMA over the years. And that’s why I hope they will keep FEMA intact. This is, again, the best [operation] that I have seen since I’ve been Governor. It’s providing quick help to our people, which shows you what a strong FEMA can do. It’s not about breaking it, it’s about fixing it or making it better. And we have lost a lot of folks from the National Weather Service. We’re still to the point where they’re able to give us the forecasts. I get them directly as Governor, but I do hope the administration, in seeing all these natural disasters and how important it is that we respond the best every time, maybe reverses some of those cuts, and I’d be happy to talk to them about it, because, again, the help they’ve given us in Kentucky has been really good.”
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