Tulsa National Weather Service Staff To Work Through Winter Weather Without Pay

The continuing government shutdown has charities ramping up services to meet their needs.

At the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, people with good jobs are showing up for help – because they’re not getting paid.

Director Eileen Bradshaw said “When they come in they seem really grateful because most of these people have been steadily employed and never have had to ask for help before and they're really unsure how to navigate the assistance system.”

The Food Bank is responding with emergency baskets and organizing convenient food pantry locations - figuring the shutdown will continue for a while.

At Tulsa’s National Weather Service, the forecast calls for cold and snow, but no chance of a paycheck this week.

They are still working.

Steve Piltz, the Meteorologist in Charge, said “All of our operations are normal with the system coming in. We typically run 2 or 3 folks, 24 / 7 and we can ramp that up as needed. So from an operational standpoint, we're as ready as we always would be.”

Many government employees are off during the furlough - ordered to stay home.  But the Weather Service, considered essential, has everyone on the job, working, even long hours, but not getting paid on the normal two week cycle.

At the Food Bank, Bradshaw says “We're keeping an eye on this closely. We hate that it's impacting anybody but the numbers could really go up exponentially if the government doesn't reopen.”