US Hurricane Boss given the sack for wanting better equipment? Huh?

[Petra]

About half the mans' staff called for his sacking, yet all I can find is that he wanted the satellite QuikScat replaced because it was getting old and he was concerned that it would fail. There is a brief mention of "other issues", but those issues are not stated.

The new director of the National Hurricane Center went on leave Monday, in the middle of hurricane season, amid calls from about half his staff that he be ousted for undermining the American public's confidence in the centre's forecasts.

More than 20 of Bill Proenza's nearly 50 staff members signed a statement last week urging U.S. officials to dismiss him. They said Proenza exaggerated the problems scientists would face if an aging satellite used by hurricane forecasters failed. They were worried the consequences would hurt their forecasting abilities.

Since he replaced Max Mayfield in January, Proenza has been vocal about the need to replace the aging QuikScat satellite used by hurricane forecasters, in addition to other issues.


U.S. Representative Ron Klein, who is pushing for a bill that would pay for a satellite to replace QuikScat, issued a statement saying he was concerned about the announcement's timing.


"While it is not my responsibility to get in the middle of personnel issues, losing the head of the National Hurricane Center right in the middle of hurricane season greatly concerns me,'' Klein wrote.

This strikes me as pretty weird. Is it better to have the publics uneducated "confidence" in aging technology that might fail, or is it better to upgrade the technology to reduce the likelihood of it actually failing?


Crikey! You'd think that his staff would be behind him in a bid to update the satellite and forecasting systems, not be rallying around for his ousting because of his desire to improve things.




CTV.ca | U.S. hurricane boss goes on leave under a cloud

[fragment]

Some seem to be saying that this guy over-inflated the forecast accuracy gains that QuikSCAT provides. With this level of staff revolt it's hard not to think that there's something else going on that's not being reported on.

Storm director's staff revolt widens - 07/05/2007 - MiamiHerald.com

Wunder Blog : Weather Underground

[California Tanker]

I seem to recall the news reports saying that he was grossly exaggerating the state of the Hurrican Dept (Probably in the usual inter-deparmental bids for cash), and that the staff were worried that it would tarnish the reputation of the organisation.

NTM

[viscousmemories]

He's a GWB appointee whose top priority is a $375 million satellite purchase that senior NOAA employees believe (based on available research) is non-essential for accurate forecasting. Inconceivable!

[fragment]

Is he a Bush creature though? I've not seen any evidence of it yet. There is a pic of this Proenza with Jeb here, but I don't think we can read anything very suspicious in a Florida governor and a hurricane guy having stuff to say to each other.

[fragment]

There's a little bit of background on this guy's blog. Still doesn't make much sense, though.

[viscousmemories]

Maybe my snark was unwarranted, but as far as I can tell my comment was factually accurate (ie. Bush appointed him and his #1 priority since taking the job has been acquiring expensive hardware). However after reading several articles in addition to your links, the real story is not at all clear to me.

[Petra]

Thanks for the links, fragment. They tell a bit more than mine does.

I don't know what to make of it. If a hugely expensive piece of equipment is needed to protect people, then it's needed and should be bought, imho. It'll (hopefully) save money and lives in the longer term. And as far as I can see, the old satellite is already operating past it's used by date. Now that in itself might not be a problem, as it's us by date may have been underestimated perhaps. But it seems the development of a replacement hasn't even been that seriously considered or actioned to date. That has to be a bit worrying, surely?

I have since noted that the man didn't have much experience in his field, so maybe he was something of a Brownie (as in "heck of a good job, Brownie" Brownie). Also worrying.

But it all just seems so strange to me. Hurricane Katrina killed more than 1,800 people and cost more than $80b in damage, so you'd think that anyone wanting to make sure any aging equipment would have a decent backup in case of failure would be paramount.

But, I dunno - maybe the guy is just a fuckwit who should go. Dunno.