Meteorologist John Morales broke down live on air as he was describing the magnitude of Hurricane Milton on Monday. Looking at the satellite imagery of the hurricane’s path, Morales choked up and then apologized to the viewers for being emotional: “I apologize — this is just horrific.”
As the clip went viral, John Morales too shared it and wrote, “I debated whether to share this.I did apologize on the air. But I invite you to read my introspection @BulletinAtomic of how extreme weather 📈 driven by global warming has changed me. Frankly, YOU should be shaken too, and demand.”
According to the latest update, historic superstorm Hurricane Milton is threatening to reach known maximum limits with wind gusts already topping 200 miles per hour, leading to calls for a new category 6 designation for it. Two weeks ago, Hurricane Helene ravaged US states which are still coping with that. Florida meteorologist Noah Bergren said this is nothing short of astronomical. “I am at a loss for words to meteorologically describe to you the storm’s small eye and intensity. This hurricane is nearing the mathematical limit of what Earth’s atmosphere over this ocean water can produce,” he said.
Early Tuesday, the storm downgraded to a category 4 but now it is expected to gain more strength as its churns towards Florida’s gulf coast.
After forming in the Gulf of Mexico, Milton rapidly accelerated from a tropical storm with 60-mph winds Sunday morning to a deadly, 180-mph, Category 5 hurricane by Monday — an incredible trebling of power in only 36 hours. If the hurricane reaches winds of 192 mph, it will surpass a rare threshold that just five storms have reached since 1980, USA Today reported.
Tampa mayor Jane Castor told CNN that if residents choose to “stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re gonna die”.
President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration on Monday after pledging “life-saving resources in advance of the storm,” the day prior. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced Monday that the state has stocked up on millions of gallons of fuel, truckloads of food, water and medical supplies, Starlinks and flood protection systems to safeguard “critical infrastructure”.