With hurricane season fast approaching, three Houston-area Democratic members of Congress are demanding answers from federal officials about critical staffing shortages at the National Weather Service (NWS) office that serves Southeast Texas.

U.S. Reps. Lizze Fletcher, Sylvia Garcia and Al Green sent a letter this week to the Department of Commerce requesting information about when the 11 positions (of 25 total) would be filled at the League City headquarters.

Notably, the empty positions include meteorologist-in-charge, warning coordination meteorologist and science and operations officer.

"Losing all three of these essential employees will increase the risk of errors or missed extreme weather warnings and exacerbate an already overworked staff," the letter read. "NWS forecast office employees are working longer shifts because of the forced staffing reductions, which is leading to severe worker burnout."

The office was already short-staffed in March, down eight positions, which has since increased following a trend of NWS offices nationwide facing funding cuts and staffing shortages amid President Donald Trump's federal hiring freeze.

The lawmakers urged the department to respond to their questions by May 30, the day before hurricane season starts.

Hurricane researchers at Colorado State University published the first round of estimates for this year's Atlantic hurricane season, predicting that nine out of potentially 17 named storms will become hurricanes and four will reach major hurricane strength—or a category 3, 4 or 5 storm with winds of 111 mph or more.

The upcoming hurricane season is expected to be roughly 125 percent more active than the average season from 1991 to 2020. A second round of estimates will be released closer to the beginning of hurricane season.

NWS Houston/Galveston provides the region with timely and accurate forecasts, watches and warnings for most of Southeast Texas, including Matagorda Bay, Trinity, College Station and Bolivar Peninsula.

The Houston-area representatives requested information regarding whether there will be additional support during extreme weather and whether the office will have to alter any services to comply with the Trump administration's cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

They also asked to be provided with the number of Houston staffers who left since Trump took office and if they were cut based on their probationary status. 

View this story in the Houston Chronicle.