Poor Forecast Will Cost U.S. $1.25 Million

A federal judge Monday ordered the federal government to pay a total of $1.25 million to the families of three lobstermen who were lost at sea off the New England coast during a fierce storm that the National Weather Service failed to predict accurately.

The ruling on damages by U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro, sitting in Boston, came eight months after the judge issued a landmark decision that held the weather service and its parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, liable for the deaths for failing to repair a broken wind sensor atop a weather buoy 100 miles at sea.

If the buoy had been functioning, Tauro found in his unusual Dec. 21 decision, the data it provides could have enabled weather forecasters to predict more accurately the path of the killer storm that roared across the Georges Bank fishing area on Nov. 22, 1980, spawning 80-knot winds and 50-foot waves.

By providing the sophisticated forecasts in the first place, Tauro ruled last year, the government had induced commercial fishermen to rely on them. Once the government created the reliance, it had a duty to keep the service in good working order. By failing to repair the broken wind sensor, the weather service had breached that duty.

The judge’s ruling recognized a duty owed not to the general public to get weather forecasts right, but to an identifiable group of professional mariners who placed particular reliance on special forecasts.

Appeal Plannned

David Hutchinson, the U.S. Justice Department attorney who defended the government at the trial, said Monday that he would “immediately” appeal Tauro’s decisions both on liability and damages.

Hutchinson had argued that the weather service provides forecasts as a public service and has no liability if they turn out wrong. He contended that the storm was a “weather bomb” that exploded so suddenly it could not have been predicted. “We’ve always felt that the government did nothing wrong here,” he said.

Gary Brown, 25; William Garnos, 30, and David Berry, 20, left Cape Cod in fair weather the day before the storm, heading toward a rich fishing area 100 miles off the Massachusetts coast. Forecasts predicted continued fair weather, but the storm hit early the next day. Garnos and Berry disappeared when their boat, the Fairwind, sank. Two hours later, Brown was swept overboard from his vessel, the Sea Fever.

Born After His Death

Tauro awarded $783,588 to Brown’s widow, Honour Brown Ferris, who has since remarried. The amount included $94,331 for Brown’s 4-year-old daughter, Cary Brown, who was born after her father’s death.

The judge also awarded $412,166 to Garnos’ parents, Angelo and Helen Garnos, and $59,651 to Berry’s father, George Berry.

As is customary in arriving at the amount of damage awards, Tauro based his decisions on the age of the victims and their projected lifetime earnings.

The relatives had asked for a total of $3.2 million.

“Looking at the total damages, we’re very pleased,” said Michael Latti, attorney for the plaintiffs.

“All I’m hoping for really is that the judge’s decision stands and it stays the way it is because I’m just worried that it will happen to someone else . . . “ Ferris said. “The only thing that could make up for the loss of Gary--and even that never could--is if it doesn’t get overthrown.”