WASHINGTON — The federal weather and oceans agency touches people’s daily lives in unnoticed ways, so massive firings there will likely cause needless deaths and a big hit to America’s economy, according to the people who ran it.

The first round of firings started Thursday at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a government agency that monitors the oceans, the atmosphere where storms roam and space, and puts out hundreds of “products” daily. Those products generally save lives and money, experts say.

NOAA’s 301 billion weather forecasts every year reach 96% of American households.

The firings are “going to affect safety of flight, safety of shipping, safety of everyday Americans,” Admiral Tim Gallaudet told The Associated Press Friday. President Donald Trump appointed Gallaudet as acting NOAA chief during his last administration. “Lives are at risk for sure.”

Former NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad agreed.

“We’re getting into prime tornado time. We’re getting into planting season for the agricultural season for the bread belt,” Spinrad said. “It’s going to affect safety. It’s going to affect the economy.”

That’s because “NOAA sort of gets forgotten, until it’s very important,” said private meteorologist Ryan Maue, a conservative and a NOAA chief scientist under Trump.

“This throws sand in the gears” of an agency that is understaffed but doing “a Herculean job,” Maue said.

Elon Musk has repeatedly defended federal workforce cuts by his Department of Government Efficiency as “common sense.”

What does

NOAA do?

The agency creates daily weather forecasts from 122 local offices, issuing warnings for deadly tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, wildfires and floods.

Disaster and local officials use those to advise the public on how to avoid danger. Farmers use seasonal outlooks for crop advice. Pilots use aviation forecasts. Forecasts from private weather apps on phones, on television and elsewhere are based on NOAA satellites, data and forecasts.

“That’s an amazing undertaking to monitor that. You can’t count on TV meteorologists to fill this gap and you can’t count on private meteorology,” Maue said. “You can’t count on your weather app to call you up and alert you” to tornadoes, severe thunderstorms and floods in your area.