 Joanne Simpson became its director beginning in 1965 . While out to sea in August of the 1965 Atlantic hurricane season , Stormfury meteorologists decided that Hurricane Betsy was a good candidate for seeding . However , the storm immediately swung towards land , and on September 1 , the planned flights were canceled . For some reason , the press was not notified that there were no seedings , and several newspapers reported that it had begun . As Betsy passed close to the Bahamas and smashed into southern Florida , the public and Congress thought that seeding was underway and blamed Stormfury . It took two months for Stormfury officials to convince Congress that Betsy was not seeded , and the project was allowed to continue . A second candidate , Hurricane Elena , stayed too far out to sea . 
