NOAA Staff Reportedly Warned in Directive Not to Contradict Trump on Hurricane Dorian
A new report says that staffers for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) were warned by a senior official to not contradict President Donald Trump in the midst of Hurricane Dorian.
The Washington Post obtained a directive that was sent to National Weather Service personnel earlier this month, shortly before Trump claimed for the first time that Alabama “would most likely be hit” by the storm. The directive reportedly instructs staff to not “provide any opinion” in their work and “only stick with official National Hurricane Center forecasts if questions arise from some national level social media posts which hit the news this afternoon.”
CNN has also obtained what seems to be the same directive that Washington Post received:
CNN has obtained the message from a National Weather Service Sept 1 email that was sent to NWS staffers after Trump’s Alabama tweet and the Birmingham NWS tweet. It advised staff “should not provide any opinion about the national level posts…” pic.twitter.com/Kz2fcrG0mM
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) September 8, 2019
News of the directive comes on the outset of Trump’s week of pushing doctored maps and defending errant claims about Hurricane Dorian’s possible impact on Alabama. A meteorologist who told the Post that directive was understood to be referencing Trump, said that “This is the first time I’ve felt pressure from above to not say what truly is the forecast.”
“It’s hard for me to wrap my head around,” the meteorologist continued. “One of the things we train on is to dispel inaccurate rumors and ultimately that is what was occurring — ultimately what the Alabama office did is provide a forecast with their tweet, that is what they get paid to do.”
The NOAA recently generated uproar when they disavowed a forecast from the Birmingham National Weather Service that contradicted Trump’s predictions about Dorian’s path. The statement reportedly angered various scientists at the NOAA and other related agencies.
“This looks like classic politically motivated obfuscation to justify inaccurate statements made by the boss,” said former NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco. “It is truly sad to see political appointees undermining the superb, lifesaving work of NOAA’s talented and dedicated career servant.”
