Hurrican Director forced to resign

July 9, 2007
Hurrican Director forced to resign

A 20-year veteran of the National Hurricane Center and already its deputy director, Ed Rappaport last year declined an opportunity to apply for the top job -- the most prominent post in government meteorology.

He ended up with it anyway Monday, appointed as the center's interim director in the climax of an unprecedented, unseemly staff mutiny that cost Bill Proenza his job after a tenure so abbreviated it didn't include a single hurricane.

Superiors in Washington said Proenza's turbulent six-month reign threatened the hurricane center's ability "to protect the American people."