Neil Jacobs, tapped to lead NOAA, called for sharper forecasting tools and clearer public alerts, just days after flooding in Texas left more than 100 dead.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the agency that oversees weather told senators at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday that a proposal to cut more than a quarter of the agency’s budget wouldn’t jeopardize its ability to predict severe events like wildfires in the Northwest or the recent deadly flooding in Texas.

Last week’s devastating Hill Country flooding is likely to feature heavily in a Wednesday hearing on President Donald Trump’s nomination of Neil Jacobs

Former NOAA chief Neil Jacobs told lawmakers Wednesday he would “probably do some things differently” in response to questions over the 2019 “Sharpiegate” scandal, pledging at his confirmation hearing not to sign off again on an inaccurate hurricane forecast under political pressure.

President Donald Trump's pick to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration called staffing NOAA weather offices a "top priority" — but also supported propose budget cuts at the agency.

Neil Jacobs stressed a desire to see the more than 120 Weather Service forecast offices across the country be fully staffed.