I mean, I think it's self-evident as a general point...but in this specific case they don't have any satellite data driving their weather analysis because the government bureaucracy is mired in an ongoing process to upgrade. Anyone who has done gov't software contracting has probably seen cases like this.
Why a private company would invest on better technology if it doesn't have competitors? It's not profitable for a service provider to invest, and even if there are competitors, most of the time, like with cellphone carriers, they agree not provide a better service so they can all take their portion of the cake without expending a dime.