As we head into severe weather season, host Ben Kieffer talks with ISU meteorology professor Bill Gallus about how layoffs to National Weather Service staff is exacerbating personnel shortages, and forcing staff to reduce data collection that informs forecasts and long-term outlooks.
Later, IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering Director Larry Weber shares how tens of millions of dollars in federal grants and contracts that were headed to the University of Iowa-housed laboratory have been put on hold. Federal funds make up a large part of the annual budget for IIHR, which houses the Iowa Flood Center and the Iowa Geological Survey.
Weber also details the cancellation of FEMA's Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, which has provided between $10-20 million annually to the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for pre-flood disaster mitigation.
Guests:
- Bill Gallus, professor of meteorology, Iowa State University
- Larry Weber, director, IIHR-Hydroscience and Engineering and interim director, Iowa Flood Center
