Los Angeles Times - 08.09.2019

LATIMES.COM S WST SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2019A

WASHINGTON — For-
mer top officials of the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration are
assailing the agency for
undermining its weather
forecasters as it defends
President Trump’s state-
ment from days ago that
Hurricane Dorian threat-
ened Alabama.
They say NOAA’s action
risks the credibility of the
nation’s weather and scien-
ce agency and may even risk
lives. The critics served both
Republican and Democratic
presidents. Among them are
former NOAA officials and a
former disaster response
chief.
“This rewriting history to
satisfy an ego diminishes
NOAA,” Elbert “Joe” Friday,
former Republican-ap-
pointed director of the Na-
tional Weather Service, said
on Facebook.
He told the Associated
Press on Saturday: “We
don’t want to get to the point
where science is determined
by politics rather than scien-
ce and facts. And I’m afraid
this is an example where this
is beginning to occur.”
The previous evening, a
statement issued by NOAA
without attribution to any
specific individuals lent sup-
port to Trump’s warning
days earlier that Alabama
faced danger from Dorian,
even though the state had
never been included in offi-
cial hurricane advisories
and his information was
outdated.
The statement under-
mined a Twitter message by
the weather service’s office
in Birmingham, Ala., that
had said Alabama would see
no impact from Dorian. The
weather service’s tweet was
“inconsistent” with forecast
probabilities at the time,
NOAA’s statement said.
Former officials saw a po-
litical hand at work. The
White House did not im-
mediately respond to a re-
quest for comment Sat-
urday as to whether it had
communicated with NOAA
before the agency released
its statement Friday. NOAA
officials also didn’t respond
to requests for comment.
“This falls into such un-
charted territory,” said
Craig Fugate, who was Flor-
ida emergency management
chief under Republican Gov.
Jeb Bush and director of the
Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency under
Democratic President
Obama. “You have science
organizations putting out
statements against their
own offices. For the life of
me, I don’t think I would
have ever faced this under
President Obama or Gov.
Bush.”
Fugate said the contra-
dictory statements damage
the National Weather Serv-

ice and could not predict

how much it might hurt hur-

ricane preparedness and re-

sponse.

Jane Lubchenco, NOAA

administrator during the

Obama administration,

said: “It is truly sad to see po-

litical appointees undermin-

ing the superb, lifesaving

work of NOAA’s talented

and dedicated career serv-

ants. Scientific integrity at a

science agency matters.”

Retired Adm. David Tit-

ley, former NOAA opera-

tions chief and a former me-

teorology professor at Penn

State University, said that

NOAA’s leadership is show-

ing “moral cowardice” and

that officials should have re-

signed instead of issuing the

statement chastising the

Birmingham office. Friday

said he would have quit had

he been in the same situa-

tion.

Titley said Saturday that

mistrust of NOAA forecasts

could affect people facing

life-or-death decisions on

whether to evacuate.

“For people who look for

excuses not to take action

when their lives or property

are threatened ... I think this

can potentially feed that,”

Titley said.

Former National Hurri-

cane Center director Bill

Read on Friday also excori-

ated NOAA on Facebook,

saying he was speaking be-

cause government employ-

ees were too afraid for their

jobs to speak.

Last Sunday, Trump

tweeted: “In addition to

Florida — South Carolina,

North Carolina, Georgia,

and Alabama, will most

likely be hit (much) harder

than anticipated. Looking

like one of the largest hurri-

canes ever. Already category

5.”

The weather service in

Birmingham quickly fol-

lowed with a tweet, which

one meteorologist there said

was prompted by residents’

concerns about what to do.

It said: “Alabama will NOT

see any impacts from #Dori-

an. We repeat, no impacts

from Hurricane #Dorian will

be felt across Alabama. The

system will remain too far

east.”

NOAA spokesman Chris-

topher Vaccaro verified that

day, “The current forecast

path of Dorian does not in-

clude Alabama.”

The agency changed

course in its latest state-

ment, saying under no one’s

name that the Birmingham

tweet from its forecasters

“spoke in absolute terms

that were inconsistent with

probabilities from the best

forecast products available

at the time.”

But contrary to Trump’s

tweet, it was never “most

likely” that Alabama would

be hit hard. The highest per-

centage that tropical-force

storm winds — not stronger

hurricane-force winds —

would hit Alabama was 11%,

according to hurricane cen-

ter charts and, for a brief

time, between 20% and 30%,

according to a graphic that

was not part of a forecast.

NOAA criticized for defending Trump

A WALKWAYfloods in Jensen Beach, Fla., as Hurricane Dorian approached the region last week.

Adam DelGiudiceAFP/Getty Images

Ex-officials say agency

tweet undermines its

weather forecasters.

associated press

Paul R. Minshull #16591. BP 12-25%; see HA.com 55776

DALLAS|NEWYORK|BEVERLYHILLS|SANFRANCISCO|CHICAGO|PALMBEACH

LONDON|PARIS|GENEVA|AMSTERDAM|HONGKONG

MODERN &

CONTEMPORARY ART

November 20 | Beverly Hills | Live and Online

Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008)

Treasure (Shales),

Firewaxandtransferoncanvasmountedonboard

with painted aluminum frame

Sold for $81,

ACCEPTING CONSIGNMENTS

Inquiries

LeonBenrimon|310.492.8676|[email protected]

INGLEWOOD

LIGHT CHERRY Made in USAMade in USA

JAMESTOWN

GEORGETTE WALNUT HEARTFORD GLAZE HONEY OAK Made in USAMade in USA CIDER CHERRY Made in USAMade in USA

QUAKER GRAY OAKMade in USAMade in USA ST. PAUL

SANTA FE

ANTIQUE BROWN

QUAKER MOCHA SANTA FE

CHERRY Made in USAMade in USA SAINT JAMES WHITE

VANDERBURG

SLATE Made in USAMade in USA

VICTORIAN

DARK OAK Made in USAMade in USA

SEDON A

MAPLE Made in USAMade in USA URBAN RUSTIC WENGE Made in USAMade in USA

AUBURN MAPLEMade in USAMade in USA AUGUSTE GREY AURORA GLAZED BELFAST CHESTNUT

BERKSHIRE

ESPRESSO

MABEL WARM

JAMESTOWN LAVAMade in USAMade in USA CINNAMON MONTEGO GREY MYSTIQUE BLUE PADOVA VANIT Y & TOP

1800 EAST DYER ROAD, SANTA ANA, CA 92705

WWW.BUILDERSSURPLUS.NET/LAT 888-932-

NEW EXTENDED STORE HOURS: TUES-SATURDAY 7:30AM - 6PM CLOSED SUN & MON

CLASSIC WHITE Made in USAMade in USA CRAFTSMAN DRIFTWOOD Made in USAMade in USA

DANVILLE WHITE

MAPLE Made in USAMade in USA

BRANTLEY

HARBOR WHITE

BUILDERS SURPLUSBUILDERS SURPLUS

KITCHEN & BATH CABINETS

GEORGETOWN

SHAKER WHITE Made in USAMade in USA

WILLIAMSBURG CHERRY Made in USAMade in USA

JAMESTOWN DELUXE

SLATE Made in USAMade in USA

MYSTIQUE BLUE

Made in USAMade in USA

NEW ARRIVAL

NEW ARRIVAL

RENTOWN LIMESTONE

21 KITCHEN STYLESASSEMBLED & IN STOCK

75 VANITY STYLESASSEMBLED & IN STOCK

SO. CAL’S LARGEST

KITCHEN&BATHCABINETWAREHOUSE

Check out

our entire

selection and

prices online

NEW ARRIVALNEW ARRIVAL

See

our entire

selection and

prices online

FEATURING

MADE IN THE USA