National Weather Alerts Lost in Translation as Services Are Cut
Let’s talk about something that might not be front-page flashy, but could have life-and-death consequences: the National Weather Service (NWS) has paused its automatic translation services for severe weather alerts. That means millions of people in the U.S. who rely on weather alerts in languages other than English may no longer get them. And this change didn’t come with much warning—it’s all due to a contract lapse, buried quietly in a government memo released on April 1st. No joke.
The contract was with Lilt, an AI-powered translation company that had been working with the NWS to convert alerts into multiple languages—Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, French, Samoan—you name it. The goal? To make sure everyone, no matter what language they speak, could understand critical weather alerts like tornado warnings, flash flood advisories, or hurricane updates.
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But that service is now on pause, and the timing couldn’t be worse. We’re heading into peak severe weather season. With hurricane season approaching and storms already hitting parts of the country, people who don’t speak English as their first language are suddenly at greater risk. This isn’t about convenience—it’s about public safety. Real lives are affected when vital information gets lost in translation.
And here’s what makes it even more complicated: this pause comes right after the Trump administration declared English the official language of the U.S. for the first time in history. That move rolled back a Clinton-era executive order that required agencies to provide language access to those with limited English proficiency. So now, we’re not just dealing with a paused contract—we’re staring down a possible shift in policy that deprioritizes multilingual services entirely.
It's not just about bureaucracy and budget cuts either. Real stories bring this into focus. After a devastating tornado hit Kentucky in 2021, a Spanish-speaking family initially misunderstood English alerts and sheltered upstairs. Only after getting a translated message did they move downstairs—just in time. The storm destroyed their second floor. That alert literally saved their lives. And now, those kinds of messages might not reach the people who need them most.
NOAA staff say if a new contract isn’t in place within 30 days of the lapse, it could be very difficult to restart the program. That’s time ticking away during a season when severe weather is ramping up. And while the National Weather Service’s internal operations haven’t been cut, NOAA—its parent agency—has already seen over a thousand employees laid off.
This is a bigger conversation about what safety and inclusivity look like in 2025. With over 68 million people in the U.S. speaking a language other than English at home, cutting off translation services isn’t just a technical hiccup. It’s shutting the door on equity. When you can’t understand the warning, you can’t respond to the danger.
So yeah, this isn’t just a story about weather. It’s about who gets to be safe, informed, and prepared—and who gets left behind.
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