The context matters. He wasn’t issuing orders to the government folks, he was talking to the people. The Aug 31st forecasts did have Alabama on it, and it’s not some huge scandal that his remarks were prepared from the previous day’s forecast. So if you were in coastal or eastern Alabama, preliminary storm prep for the average citizen - take inventory, make sure basics are on hand, make contingency plans - was absolutely appropriate, common sense measure. It’s not like there aren’t going to be any more storms, and it’s not like anybody ordered an evacuation - the hysteria level is insensible.
This was the first storm of the season, so it’s the time when citizen preparation is likely lowest. The “downside” scenario to people taking his “bad” advice is that they’re more prepared for a storm. People wailing about it like it’s some sort of war crime are at Red Queen levels of crazy.
I did prep here and this location never got out of the 20% TS band either. It just makes sense. When the next storm comes I already know what needs to be done.