STORM RAGES ON

NOAA Warned Employees Not to Contradict Trump Over Alabama

The national weather agency issued a directive not to “provide opinion” after the president inaccurately said Alabama was in Hurricane Dorian’s path.

A week before the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a statement backing President Donald Trump’s errant warning that the state of Alabama was in Hurricane Dorian’s path, it warned staff not to contradict the president. The Washington Post reports that the statement dated Sept. 1 to all National Weather Service personnel came shortly after Trump said Dorian might hit Alabama. At that time, the weather staff was told to not “provide any opinion” and asked to “only stick with official National Hurricane Center forecasts if questions arise from some national level social media posts which hit the news this afternoon.” The agency later publicly backed the president, angering professionals across the national weather service. “This looks like classic politically motivated obfuscation to justify inaccurate statements made by the boss,” Jane Lubchenco, who served as NOAA administrator under President Barack Obama, told the Post. “It is truly sad to see political appointees undermining the superb, lifesaving work of NOAA’s talented and dedicated career servants.”