A meteorologist choked up during a report on the devastation that Hurricane Milton could cause, as Florida braces itself for the category 5 storm.
Many locals in Tampa Bay have been ordered to evacuate from the storm’s path as it moves in rapid rates towards land, in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
States of emergency have been declared in areas across the state, with predictions that the hurricane could make landfall tomorrow.
Weatherman John Morales became visibly emotional live on air as he reported on the weather yesterday, leaving viewers shaken.
Appearing on NBC 6 South Florida, he warned that Milton is ‘just an incredible, incredible, incredible hurricane’, sharing that it has intensified from a category 3 to a category 5 alarmingly quickly.
‘It has dropped 50 millibars in 10 hours,’ he said, before choking up. ‘I apologize. This is just horrific.
‘It is just gaining strength in the Gulf of Mexico, where you can imagine the seas are just so incredibly, incredibly hot. A record hot – as you might imagine.
‘You know what’s driving that, I don’t need to tell you – global warming, climate change, leading to this and becoming an increasing threat.’
John explained that there could be winds of around 160mph, declaring that Milton will be ‘nothing less than a major hurricane when it makes landfall in Florida’.
He also noted that ‘even though it is expected to weaken upon approach, it is so incredibly strong right now’.
Unpacking the footage on social media, many were left as emotional as the reporter, sharing that it was ‘hard to watch’ the news segment.
‘The emotion in his voice says it all,’ Twitter user Daniela said.
Trey agreed: ‘I’ve never seen a meteorologist get emotional talking about a storm before it even hits.’
Stephanie Sigafoos wrote: ‘It’s hard to watch this and not get emotional listening to him. How do you watch this thing coming in, powerless to stop it, knowing how much destruction it’s going to leave behind.’
‘Watching a meteorologist – usually pretty level headed science people – get emotional is alarming,’ Trek Glowacki wrote.
Oisin McGann commented: ‘When the meteorologist’s voice starts breaking up at what he’s trying to describe, you know it’s going to be serious.’
As Cynicgrrl added: ‘Meterologist literally choking up on air talking about how strong Milton is. This is our new reality and it will only get worse
‘And doing anything other than coming together in these circumstances is unconscionable [sic].’
Milton could come ashore in the Tampa Bay region tomorrow, days after Hurricane Helene hit – storm surges of up to 12 feet are expected in some areas as winds of 165mph will slam into the Gulf Coast.
President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Florida and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor issued a stern warning to locals that there has ‘never been one like this’.
‘Hurricane Helene was a wake-up call, this is literally catastrophic,’ she declared. ‘And I can say without any dramatization whatsoever: If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re going to die.
‘If you want to take on Mother Nature, she wins 100% of the time.’
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
