Coast Guard rear admiral defends Trump from storm of backlash after Alabama forecast

“As the Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor, I briefed President Donald J. Trump multiple times concerning the position, forecast, risks, and Federal Government preparations for and response to Hurricane Dorian,” his statement read. “I showed the President the official National Hurricane Center forecast, which included the ‘cone’ that projects the potential path of the eye of the storm. The president and I also reviewed other products, including multiple meteorological models (often called the ‘spaghetti models’) and graphics that displayed the time of onset and geographical range of tropical storm force winds, storm surge, and rainfall. These products showed possible storm impacts well outside the official forecast cone.”

“While speaking to the press on Sunday, September 1, the President address Hurricane Dorian and its potential impact on multiple states, including Alabama. The President’s comments were based on that morning’s Hurricane Dorian briefing, which included the possibility of tropical storm force winds in southeastern Alabama,” Brown said. “In fact, from the evening of Tuesday, August 27, until the morning of Monday, September 2, forecasts from the National Hurricane Center showed the possibility of tropical storm force winds hitting parts of Alabama.”

“Additionally, the forecast track changed substantially over time, such that localities originally concerned about significant impacts, such as Puerto Rico, South Florida, and the Gulf Coast, saw minimal to no impact from Hurricane Dorian,” he said.

Many fact-checked Brown’s statement, including those who pointed out a National Hurricane Center graphic showing the odds of an Alabama strike dropping significantly by Sunday, from 10% to 5%.

According to his biography page, Brown was the commander of the Seventh Coast Guard District headquartered in Miami and oversaw the development of strategic response policy guidelines for law enforcement, search-and-rescue, disaster response, and counterterrorism and defense operations. He left his command post in June when he transferred over to Washington headquarters to serve as an adviser to the president.

Trump has quadrupled down on comments about Dorian on Thursday, sharing weather maps and tweets from last week that show Alabama early could have been in Dorian’s path.

The National Weather Service office in Birmingham even put out a tweet after Trump first mentioned Alabama, asserting the state would not see “any impacts” from Dorian because it was projected to remain too far east.

The backlash intensified when Trump presented a doctored map Wednesday in the Oval Office showing that Hurricane Dorian could hit Alabama. Added to graphic was a black semicircle next to the National Hurricane Center forecast cone that reached over the Florida panhandle and a part of Alabama.

“Just so everyone is clear. This forecast cone was from 5 days ago. Alabama was NEVER in the official cone from the @NHC_Atlantic,” Fox News senior meteorologist Janice Dean tweeted Wednesday. “The sharpie-bubble was drawn by someone else. This map is inaccurate, misleading and fake,” Janice Dean, senior meteorologist for Fox News Channel, tweeted afterwards.

In his latest defensive tweets, Trump accused the “fake news” media of denying Alabama was ever in Dorian’s forecast.

Dorian devastated the Bahamas over Labor Day weekend, killing at least 20 people and damaging or destroying at least 13,000 homes, before lashing out at the East Coast this week.