Tag: noaa
Trump Biographer Blames Him And Musk For Texas Flooding Deaths

Trump Biographer Blames Him And Musk For Texas Flooding Deaths

In a scathing social media post, Seth Abramson, biographer of President Donald Trump, directly blamed Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk for the deaths of more than 50 Texans in recent catastrophic flooding — arguing their politically driven decisions led to avoidable tragedy.

“I have no difficulty saying that Trump and Musk caused some of the 50+ flood deaths in Texas,” Abramson wrote in a widely shared thread on the social platform X.

“And here's why: these two men with no expertise in disaster preparedness were told not to cut the positions they cut, and were told people would die if they did. And then people died," he said.

Abramson’s remarks come amid growing scrutiny over public service cuts made in Republican-led states, where disaster readiness programs have been downsized or gutted.

In Texas, where flash floods have left at least 50 people dead, analysts and former emergency managers have raised concerns that early warning systems, regional FEMA coordination, and infrastructure resilience have been compromised due to staffing and budget reductions.

Abramson urged Democratic leaders to take a more forceful stance over the tragedy. “Democrats are never going to start winning elections again until they're willing to call a thing just what it is,” he wrote. “Texas Democrats should be clear and persistent in saying that public service cuts overseen by non-experts desperate for billionaire tax cuts killed people.”

He preemptively addressed Republican rebuttals accusing Democrats of politicizing tragedy. “And if Republicans respond by saying that Democrats are politicizing these deaths,” Abramson added, “the Democrats should respond: THAT'S BECAUSE THE DEATHS ARE POLITICAL. POLITICIANS CAUSED THEM.”

Abramson, who has written extensively on Trump’s business and political life, framed the Texas disaster as a warning of worse to come.

“A key reason we need to start having this conversation now—and why cowardly Democratic politicians need to get over their aversion to having this conversation—is because the number of dead attributable to Trump and Musk this year will be in the thousands or tens of thousands," he wrote in the X post.

The Texas floods, which resulted from unprecedented rainfall and infrastructure failures across several counties, are among the deadliest in recent state history. Emergency responders have said many deaths occurred in areas where early warning systems failed or where evacuation routes were unmaintained.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Hundreds Of Federal Employees Who Produce Weather Forecasts Fired -- Again

Hundreds Of Federal Employees Who Produce Weather Forecasts Fired -- Again

Several hundred federal workers who were reinstated in their roles after being fired in the early days of President Donald Trump's administration have now just been fired yet again.

The Guardian reported Thursday that approximately 800 workers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have been at the whim of a "rollercoaster" of court rulings in recent months, which culminated in today's firings. Initially, after South African centibillionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) fired thousands of "probationary" workers (who have been in their roles for a year or less), a court order handed down in March ordered that they be hired back. But earlier this week, the Supreme Court reversed that order, and those workers were once again out of a job.

“Well after about 3 weeks of reinstatement, I, along with other probationary employees at NOAA, officially got 're-fired' today,” tweeted Dr. Andy Hazelton, who was a hurricane modeling scientist at the agency. “What a wild and silly process this has been.”

The firing of the NOAA workers comes just months before the official start of hurricane season, which usually begins on June 1 each year. The agency's forecasting experts are a critical tool for the administrations of hurricane-prone states as they make preparations to evacuate residents in the event of a major storm.

And aside from hurricane season, NOAA also assists with weather mapping that helps track thunderstorm patterns and alert Americans to potential tornadoes during the spring months. In an interview with the Guardian, Hazelton said that while remaining staff will do their best despite the cuts, the significant reduction in staffing will make their jobs more difficult.

“It’s going to create problems across the board,” Hazelton told the outlet. “It may be a slow process but the forecasts are going to suffer and as a result people will suffer.”

The loss of staffing at NOAA could also be felt beyond the United States' borders. According to the Guardian, other countries rely on findings from NOAA's scientists, satellites and intelligence. The agency has information-sharing agreements with countries in the Caribbean region, which can help local governments better prepare for disasters in the event of a major hurricane in the area.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Kash Patel

FBI And NOAA Bosses Order Staff To Ignore Directive From Musk

Newly appointed FBI Director Kash Patel has instructed agency employees to refrain from responding to a recent email from the Trump administration. According to The Guardian, the email, sent to hundreds of thousands of federal workers, requested them to list their accomplishments from the previous week as part of tech billionaire Elon Musk's efforts to reduce the size of the federal government.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) gave federal employees a mere 48-hour window to detail their achievements, causing widespread panic across key agencies, including the FBI.

“Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager.”

However, Patel — who was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday — countered the request. According to ABC News, Patel's message to FBI personnel stated: "The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is responsible for all our review processes, which will be conducted in accordance with FBI procedures. Please hold off on any responses for now. We will coordinate further information if required."

This directive comes amidst reports that Patel may also be appointed as acting head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Separately, John Durham, the top federal prosecutor in New York's eastern district, has also advised his staff to delay their responses.

Rear Adm. Chad Cary, director of NOAA also directed employees to stand down from responding and said the directive "came as a surprise to all departments, and NOAA leadership is seeking guidance," according to ABC News.

Elon Musk, tasked with cutting government costs during Trump's second term, announced the request on his social media platform X. "Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump's instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week," he stated. "Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation."

This unusual directive has caused chaos across various agencies, including the National Weather Service and State Department. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) has strongly criticized the move, calling it "cruel and disrespectful" to federal workers, particularly veterans in civil service.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Under High Pressure, Weather Agency Defends Trump On Dorian

Under High Pressure, Weather Agency Defends Trump On Dorian

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

President Donald Trump has been fixated all week on his false claim made Sunday that Alabama “will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated” by Hurricane Dorian, a statement which wasn’t supported by the evidence at the time. Through a whirlwind of lies, distortions, and even potentially criminal forgeries, Trump has tried to beat back the criticism he received for the gaffe, a campaign that peaked Friday when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration criticized a Birmingham branch of the agency for a tweet that contradicted the president.

Shortly after Trump tweeted falsely about Alabama on Sunday, the National Weather Service (a branch of NOAA) in Birmingham tweeted:

Now, in a statement, NOAA disavowed the tweet:

There are several things to note about this new development. First, it comes on the heels of Trump apparently forcing a Homeland Security official to come to his defense, even though his claims didn’t support the president’s initial or subsequent falsehoods. Second, this new statement is particularly dubious given that no administration official was willing to put their name on it. Third, it doesn’t address Trump’s myriad false claims about Hurricane Dorian, including his first claim on Sunday which created a completely false impression about the risks Alabama faced.

Now, as I have noted multiple times, there were a few indications around the time of Trump’s false claim that a relatively small portion of Alabama had a small chance of experiencing strong winds because of the hurricane. (Trump has also shifted ground on what claim he is defending because on Thursday, he asserted that his belief had been that “Alabama may also be grazed or hit” by the storm. He had previously said there had been a “95 percent” chance of the storm hitting the state.) One projection said there was a 5 percent chance of a tiny part of the state feeling 39+ mph winds.

So it’s possible that the NWS tweet somewhat overstated the confidence that there would not be “any” impacts in Alabama, though many dispute the idea that there was anything wrong with the statement. Nevertheless, Trump’s claim was still unequivocally wrong, which he hasn’t admitted; he said that the chances the state would get hit hard had dramatically increased when they were diminishing down to zero. In fact, state officials were so unconcerned about the impact of the storm on Sunday that Alabama’s governor wasn’t on a conference call at FEMA, as the Washington Post reported:

During a briefing at FEMA headquarters on Sunday afternoon, Trump acknowledged governors who had dialed in from Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. He then turned to a state that wasn’t represented on the line.

“It may get a little piece of a great place: It’s called Alabama,” Trump said. “And Alabama could even be in for at least some very strong winds and something more than that, it could be. This just came up, unfortunately. It’s the size of the storm that we’re talking about. So, for Alabama, just please be careful also.”

Since his initial false prediction, Trump has made repeated false claims in his defense and is apparently pressuring government officials to back him up. Instead, he could have admitted he made a mistake or, alternatively, just let the matter drop. The fact that he can’t, and that he’s using the administration to serve his misguided impulses, is deeply disturbing. Many observers continued to express concern about Trump’s behavior:

 

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