After losing hundreds of employees to budget cuts and layoffs implemented by the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency, the National Weather Service announced plans Tuesday to hire 126 workers to permanent positions while transferring existing employees to some of the neediest offices in the U.S., which records show include at least one in Louisiana.

The move comes after the administration made sweeping cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, leaving nearly half the NWS's 122 local field offices with vacancy rates of more than 20% by early April, according to data collected by the Associated Press. Some offices were so short-staffed they were forced to cut down on weather balloon launches and overnight staffing, leading meteorologists and

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