A Florida meteorologist teared up while reporting on Hurricane Milton as it quickly gathered momentum barreling toward the Sunshine State.
Milton quickly intensified into a Category 5 storm, the most powerful type of hurricane, while traversing the Gulf of Mexico on Monday. It is expected to make landfall in the Tampa Bay region by Wednesday, less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated large swathes of the Southeast.
Meteorologist John Morales appeared to be stunned by the “horrific” storm during an emotional Monday appearance on Florida NBC station WTVJ, pointing out that Milton had dropped a significant amount of barometric pressure—which causes hurricanes to strengthen—in a very short period of time.
“It’s just an incredible, incredible, incredible hurricane. It has dropped … It has dropped 50 millibars in 10 hours,” Morales said as his voice wavered and tears appeared to form in his eyes. “I apologize, this is just horrific. Maximum sustained winds are 160 miles per hour and, um, it is just gaining strength in the Gulf of Mexico …”
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Morales then pointed to the “incredibly, incredibly hot” temperatures of water in the Gulf of Mexico as a key factor in the formation of powerful hurricanes, with his voice again rattled as he explained that climate change was worsening hurricane season.
“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 for the Yucatan,” he said. “Many folks in that area have just the very basics … It’s going to be very tough.”
Morales went on to say that while Milton will likely lose strength while traveling east, it would be “very difficult” for the powerful storm to be anything “less than a major hurricane when it makes landfall in Florida.”
A clip of Morales’ emotional moment was shared by WTVJ anchor Chris Hush to X, formerly Twitter. Morales later re-shared the clip, adding that “extreme weather driven by global warming” had “changed” him.
“Frankly, YOU should be shaken too, and demand #ClimateActionNow,” the meteorologist wrote.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in an update Monday night that Milton’s central pressure had dropped below 900 millibars, marking the fifth lowest pressure reading of an Atlantic hurricane in history. The storm is sustaining winds speeds of up to 180 mph and gusts up to 220 mph.
At least a dozen Florida counties have been placed under mandatory or voluntary evacuation orders, as Milton could trigger devastating storm surges of up to 12 feet in the Tampa Bay area.
After President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration of the state, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell on Monday said she would be traveling to Florida to help coordinate the federal disaster response.
A FEMA press release urged those in the path of Milton to “protect themselves and take care of others because time is running out to prepare for the hurricane’s potentially deadly impacts.”
Newsweek on Monday night reached out for comment to FEMA via email.
Recovery efforts continue in areas pummeled by Hurricane Helene, which left a trail of destruction that included at least 230 deaths as it ripped through an area stretching from Florida’s Big Bend region to North Carolina last week.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued an executive order during the weekend to make all landfills in counties hit by Helene open to receiving storm debris, saying that the wreckage could pose additional risks once Milton makes landfall.
“This was something we recognized as a danger that could exacerbate the impacts of the storm,” he said.