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Posted: 2019-11-08T00:31:36Z | Updated: 2019-11-08T00:31:36Z

A trove of emails made public Thursday reveal the frustration, anger and turmoil in federal weather agencies after President Donald Trump incorrectly warned that Alabama was under threat of being hit by Hurricane Dorian .

In addition to Florida - South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated. Looking like one of the largest hurricanes ever. Already category 5. BE CAREFUL! GOD BLESS EVERYONE!

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 1, 2019","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Donald J. Trump","author_url":"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump","cache_age":86400,"description":"In addition to Florida - South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated. Looking like one of the largest hurricanes ever. Already category 5. BE CAREFUL! GOD BLESS EVERYONE! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 1, 2019\n\n","provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Donald J. 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In addition to Florida - South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated. Looking like one of the largest hurricanes ever. Already category 5. BE CAREFUL! GOD BLESS EVERYONE!

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 1, 2019

Trumps warning on Sept. 1 was at best days out of date. He attempted to back up his inaccurate information later by presenting a map in the Oval Office that included a primitively drawn circle around a portion of Alabama on a weather map to make it appear as if the state was in Dorians projected path.

This has really gotten out of hand, Chris Darden, the meteorologist in chief at the National Weather Service office near Birmingham, wrote in one of the emails released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He complained that meteorologists were being deluged by media requests seeking clarification after Trumps tweet.

In an earlier email, Darden detailed his offices confusion after receiving an inordinate number of questions concerning Dorian and potential impacts in Alabama from anxious and panicked citizens. Unaware that Trump was the source of the faulty information, the staff deemed it prudent to provide some type of clarification on official social media channels as Alabamans clogged highways to get out of Dorians supposed path.

Alabama will NOT see any impacts from #Dorian. We repeat, no impacts from Hurricane #Dorian will be felt across Alabama. The system will remain too far east. #alwx

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Alabama will NOT see any impacts from #Dorian . We repeat, no impacts from Hurricane #Dorian will be felt across Alabama. The system will remain too far east. #alwx

NWS Birmingham (@NWSBirmingham) September 1, 2019

Our job is to provide forecasts and weather information in ways that ... benefit the lives and safety of the US citizenry, Darden wrote in the email. That is clearly what we are doing, and kudos to the day shift for reacting to a need quickly.

Apparently in a bid to help Trump save face, NOAA issued a subsequent message denigrating the work of the Birmingham office , stating that the clarifying tweet was inconsistent with probabilities from the best forecast products available at the time. The Associated Press reported that at the time of Trumps warning, the National Hurricane Center estimated that parts of Alabama had only a 5% to 10% chance of getting tropical-storm-level (not hurricane-level) winds.

A House committee and the chief NOAA scientist have since launched an investigation into who was responsible for the unsigned NOAA statement. The New York Times reported that acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney directed Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who oversees NOAA and the National Weather Service, to have NOAA publicly refute the forecasters. Ross warned of firings if the statement wasnt issued , according to the Times.

NOAA programmer Alek Krautmann emailed a public affairs officer at the time, saying that the NOAA statement was deeply upsetting to NOAA employees that have worked the hurricane and not fully accurate based on the timeline in question.

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Others said the NOAA message triggered a slew of hate mail against the weather service. Benjamin Friedman, NOAAs deputy under secretary for operations, forwarded an email from a woman identifying herself as a scientist, lashing the NWS and NOAAs boot-licking, pandering attitude, and telling him to grow a pair or get out. Stop taking tax money if you cant do your job.

Friedman noted : These are getting very personal.

The emails were released in response to Freedom of Information Act requests by a number of media outlets, including The Daily Beast and NBC.

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