Hurricane center's Proenza could be heading to Texas

Ousted hurricane center chief Bill Proenza should be allowed to return to his former post in Fort Worth, according to two members of Congress.

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One flash point of the controversy was Proenza's charge that NOAA had failed to anticipate the eventual loss of the crucial QuikScat weather satellite.

''We already received testimony that the White House was very upset with Mr. Proenza raising concerns about the possible loss of the QuikScat satellite before a replacement had been developed,'' Lampson said.

''We don't want this extremely talented public employee consigned to NOAA's backwaters because he spoke publicly about the potential loss of a critical satellite,'' he said.

A NOAA spokesman did not return calls seeking comment Monday.