Florida Sign Language Interpreter Delivers Warnings About Pizza At Irma Press Conference

According to the New York Times, the man was identified as Marshall Greene, a lifeguard with a deaf brother who the county acknowledged wasn’t exactly thoroughly vetted before being thrust into the spotlight. Officials claimed they secured Greene’s services in a rush, since there was “little time to find an interpreter before the news conference.” Little time? It’s not like Irma just popped out from behind the stove without warning; her arrival was foretold more than a week ahead of time. But Greene’s bosses knew he had a passing understanding of sign language, and that was apparently good enough for them.

Charlene McCarthy, the founder of a sign language interpreting agency in Florida who regularly provides interpreters for the county, was disturbed by Greene’s performance and also confused as to why she wasn’t consulted.

“It was horribly unnerving for me,” she told Tampa news station WFLA. “To watch that, knowing I could provide a qualified, certified interpreter.”

“I don’t know why they didn’t call,” she added.

McCarthy wasn’t the only one upset by Greene’s performance.

“It was atrocious,” said Howard Rosenblum, the chief executive of the National Association of the Deaf. From the Times:

Mr. Rosenblum tried to decipher the beginning, starting when officials announced the evacuation, but he could only make out a jumble of disconnected phrases. “On that news” was followed by “need evacuate” and later, “pray wait water.”

Just saying: This would never have happened in New York.