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Storms Kills at Least 40 People as Trump White House Purges Agencies That Study Extreme Weather

HeadlineMar 17, 2025

At least 40 people are dead after hundreds of powerful storms, including dozens of tornadoes, tore through the Southern and Midwestern United States over the weekend. The storms knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of utility customers and triggered wildfires in Oklahoma.

This comes after the Trump administration fired some 2,000 workers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including hundreds of forecasters at the National Weather Service. Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is working to shutter NOAA offices, including a Hawaiian climate research station that since 1956 has measured steadily rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

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