The "fact-checkers" are at it again with yet another bad-faith attempt to frame Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) as a failing leader ahead of the November midterms. This time, the Democrat regime's infantry is trying to knock on the Republican governor's response to Hurricane Ian ravaging Florida regarding evacuation efforts.
CLAIM: PolitiFact reporter Yacob Reyes penned a "fact-check" Tuesday saying that DeSantis stated during an Oct. 2 interview with CNN that Lee County wasn't "even in the cone" 72 hours before Hurricane Ian's landfall, despite Cayo Costa in the Florida county appearing inside each forecast cone three days before the storm.
Reyes acknowledged, "Most of Florida's Lee County wasn't in the cone three days before" Hurricane Ian touched ground, "but parts of it were." One of the county's barrier islands, Cayo Costa, popped up within the forecast cone on each of the eight Sept. 25 advisories issued by the National Hurricane Center on Sept. 25.
Florida @GovRonDeSantis said Lee County, Florida, wasn't "even in the cone" of Hurricane Ian 72 hours before landfall.
— Yacob Reyes (@yacob_reyes) October 4, 2022
But Lee County's Cayo Costa appeared inside each forecast cone on Sept. 25. Ian made landfall on that island.
More on @PolitiFact: https://t.co/lZVlxvywtd
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the cone is meant to visualize the probable track of a tropical cyclone's center—not a storm's size or the extent of a hurricane's reach. "Hazardous conditions can occur outside of the cone," reads a disclaimer on each Hurricane Ian cone graphic. The projection of the storm's trajectory proved to be right, as Ian did make eventual landfall on the island.
Colorado State University atmospheric science researcher Matt Rogers told PolitiFact that the cone graphic predicted that the center of Hurricane Ian would cross the coastline anywhere between Cedar Key and Cayo Costa. "The cone was, therefore accurate," Rogers said. "The cone forecast from Sunday night predicted it was possible for the center of the hurricane to be as far south as Cayo Costa, and that's what happened."
305 PM EDT 28 Sep -- Hurricane #Ian has made landfall as an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane near Cayo Costa, Florida with maximum sustained winds at 150 mph. The minimum pressure from Air Force Reconnaissance Hurricane Hunters was 940 mb.
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 28, 2022
Latest: https://t.co/tnOTyfORCw pic.twitter.com/O3agPDOZHk
Reyes said that Lee County issued a mandatory evacuation order on Sept. 27 when almost all of the Southwest Florida county was inside the cone graphic. A day later, on Sept. 28, Hurricane Ian reached the region at 3:05 p.m.
FACTS: Reyes conceded, "There is an element of truth in that most of Lee County was not in the forecasted center of the storm 72 hours of landfall," but he emphasized that Coyo Costa was. Focusing on the cone itself "downplays the impacts of a storm as large as Ian," Reyes wrote in the conclusion, noting that the storm's scope radiates out from its center, and its impact can be much wider than what the cone graphic illustrates.
Lee County Commission Chairman Cecil Pendergrass asserted at an Oct. 2 press conference that local officials were acting under the available pre-landfall data. "72 hours before the storm, we still were not in the cone," Pendergrass said of Hurricane Ian's possible path. "We were working off of data and went off that data."
DeSantis defended the timing of the county's order to evacuate, stating that leadership in Lee County was relying on the National Hurricane Center's forecasting. "They were following the weather track, and they had to make decisions based on that," DeSantis told an on-air CNN reporter. "But you know, 72 hours, they weren't even in the cone. 48 hours they were on the periphery. So you gotta make the decisions as best you can."
Federal officials even echoed commentary from state officials. Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Deanne Criswell made a similar defense during an Oct. 2 appearance on ABC's "This Week," objecting to accusations that the order to leave was unnecessarily delayed. Noting that the storm was "fairly unpredictable" in the lead-up to its landfall, Criswell stated that the Lee County area was "not even in the cone of the hurricane" and "as [the storm] continued to move south, the local officials immediately—as soon as they knew that they were in that threat zone—made the decisions to evacuate and get people to safety."
Notice how Governor DeSantis gets "fact checked" by liberal media activists for saying...well, exactly the same thing that the FEMA Administrator said. Which, by the way, is accurate.@PolitiFact @AmySherman1 how was the editorial decision made to "fact check" Gov. DeSantis? pic.twitter.com/DtoOo0Ragl
— DeSantis War Room ?? #FloridaStrong (@DeSantisWarRoom) October 5, 2022
Nevertheless, the PolitiFact fact-check still rated the GOP governor's claim "Mostly False."
Reyes admitted that Cayo Costa is "sparsely populated" in his fact-check assessment, reporting on how the island was inside the cone graphic on its eastern edge at the time of the first Sept. 25 advisory. "Through all the projected trajectory changes on Sept. 25, Cayo Costa remained inside the forecast cone," he stressed.
Christina Pushaw, the DeSantis campaign's rapid response director, countered that Cayo Costa itself is largely uninhabited and "[a]lmost the entirety of Lee County *where people actually live* was outside the cone." Pushaw's statement on the concentrated population is corroborated by Lee County Economic Development's map displaying population density by census tract from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey.
According to a Florida State Parks webpage describing the tourist attraction of Cayo Costa, it's an "unspoiled" Gulf Coast island that provides visitors with a piece of "untouched Florida," specifically several miles of "untouched beaches." A 2015 article by a Fort Myers-based outlet explained why Cayo Costa "stays wild."
Back then, Cayo Costa was off the electrical grid. If anyone wanted to stay overnight there, they'd have to plan on roughing it in the state park campground. With "less than a handful of Cayo Costa homes available," a reservation at one of the few private residences open to short-term vacation rentals was hard to come. It also wasn't a place where private property sold quickly, given the lack of amenities, restaurants, and services.
Fact Check: Cayo Costa is an uninhabited island. Almost the entirety of Lee County *where people actually live* was outside the cone. Governor DeSantis was right, again. And @PolitiFact cannot handle it, again. https://t.co/RRLkojzC9r pic.twitter.com/s2llVo2Sw8
— Christina Pushaw ?? ???? (@ChristinaPushaw) October 5, 2022
Today, there's still not much human development. The Miami Herald reported, "There are no condos or Starbucks," while Florida Rambler characterized Cayo Costa as a wild beach on a remote, WiFi-less island.
The small coastal island is "beyond easy reach of the masses and is outside the realm of electricity, telephones, water lines and mosquito control," The Miami Herald said. Last year's management plan by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection measured the minimal human activity's effect on the environment.
DeSantis deputy press secretary Jeremy Redfern reiterated that 95% of Cayo Costa is owned by Florida and managed by Florida State Parks. According to Redfern, Cayo Costa, which had less than two dozen private homes as of 2016, accounts for 0.3% of Lee County. Thus, 99.7% of Lee County wasn't in the cone at the time, per Redfern's calculations. Pushaw added: "100% of the population of Lee County wasn't in the cone."
Fact check the fact-checkers:
— Jeremy Redfern (@JeremyRedfernFL) October 5, 2022
95% of Cayo Costa is owned by Florida and managed by @FLStateParks.
19 private homes as of 2016. Many used as rentals, and they’re on the southern part of the island.
Cayo Costa accounts for 0.3% of Lee County.
But yeah… “mostly false.” ?? https://t.co/zvcI2q3bUl
RATING: Reyes rated the claim that Lee County wasn't in the cone "Mostly False," so we'll rate the assertion—uttered by DeSantis and an official in the Biden administration's FEMA—MOSTLY TRUE. Most of Lee County was not in the expected center of the storm days before Hurricane Ian's landfall. While the island was in the cone, Cayo Costa is a tiny bit of Lee County, a sliver on the periphery of Florida. Many on social media have judged the claim for themselves and determined that the right calls were made with the cards that were dealt.
??
— Christina Pushaw ?? ???? (@ChristinaPushaw) October 5, 2022
According to the journalist's professional website, Reyes has written extensively about Florida's Parental Rights in Education law, which he mislabeled the "Don't Say Gay" bill; U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)'s "attendance record;" and DeSantis's "tirade against masking"—all stories with an anti-Republican or anti-DeSantis angle.
Reyes's recent fact-check reads more like a hit piece intending to depict a DeSantis administration in disarray about a month from the 2022 elections. DeSantis's attempted "Katrinafication" is reminiscent of the momentum critics used to drown the George W. Bush presidency in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
This time around, it looks like the left-wing media establishment is in hot water for politicizing a natural disaster.
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