Santorum: Still Disconnected

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Kevin G. Barkes" <kgb () kgb com>
Date: September 9, 2005 7:23:10 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Santorum: Still Disconnected
Reply-To: kgbarkes () gmail com


Union criticizes Santorum remarks about Katrina forecast

SEAN D. HAMILL

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH - The National Weather Service Employees union on Friday said
U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum should retract statements this week questioning
whether the weather service had given sufficient warning of Hurricane
Katrina's path and fury.

"There's nobody else in the country saying the weather service didn't  
do a
stellar job," said Dan Sobien, a meteorologist in Tampa, Fla., and vice
president of the union.

Union president Paul Greaves accused the third-ranking Senate  
Republican of
trying to further his goal of limiting the weather service's role in  
favor
of private companies, such as Pennsylvania-based AccuWeather.

"We know Sen. Santorum is looking out for the interests of his  
constituents
in Pennsylvania," said Greaves, a meteorologist in Albany, NY, "and  
one of
those constituents is AccuWeather."

During an interview Thursday with WITF Public Radio in Harrisburg,  
Santorum,
R-Pa., said, in part, that "the weather service gave no warning, or not
sufficient warning in my opinion, as to the effects when it came on  
land in
Florida as a Category One hurricane."

"Predictions were that it wasn't going to go out to the gulf and  
affect the
western gulf coast, it was going to sort of head up to Florida or go  
right
off the coast of Florida."

"I'm not going to suggest when it comes to Katrina that there were  
any major
errors," he went on to say in the same interview. "I don't know. This is
something that I think needs to be investigated."

Following the union's criticism, Santorum released a statement Friday  
saying
that "I hope as we go forward to review the various aspects related to
Hurricane Katrina that we also look at whether the forecasts and  
warnings
provided the necessary information to preserve lives and property."

But a fellow Republican senator, Jim DeMint of South Carolina,  
praised the
weather service's performance, calling it in a statement Friday "one  
of the
most accurate hurricane predictions we have ever seen." Spokesman Wesley
Denton said DeMint was unaware of Santorum's comments or the union's
response.

DeMint cited the same documents referred to by Greaves and Sobien  
indicating
that 2 1/2 days before Katrina hit New Orleans, the agency had  
accurately
predicted it would hit there. "These early and accurate forecasts saved
countless lives along the Gulf Coast," DeMint said.

Earlier this year, Santorum introduced legislation that would limit what
information the weather service, a federal agency, could provide to the
public. He said the agency should focus on "severe weather forecasts and
warnings designed for the protection of life and property," and leave  
the
day-to-day predictions to private companies like AccuWeather, a point he
made in Thursday's interview.

On Tuesday, Democrat Bob Casey Jr., who is widely expected to challenge
Santorum next year, criticized the senator's comment that people who  
didn't
heed future evacuation warnings may need to be penalized if they had the
ability to leave an area.

On Friday, Santorum said in an interview that he didn't know exactly  
what
kind of penalties could be put in place.

"We have to somehow or another give local authorities some teeth for
evacuation purposes," he said. "I know people who choose to stay  
behind can
put themselves and the general public at risk."


Regards,

KGB

-----
Kevin G. Barkes
Email: kgb () kgb com | Web: www.kgb.com
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