South Florida NBC meteorologist John Morales explained his emotional reaction Monday to Hurricane Milton’s strength and projected path, telling CNN that it was out of character for him, but it was brought on by the increased severity of storms due to climate change.
Morales told OutFront anchor Erin Burnett on Tuesday that, going back to his start in 1992, he had “always been known as the non-alarmist, just-the-facts meteorologist.”
“So this is definitely a departure from the guy I’ve always been. But I have changed,” he explained. “The extreme weather events that are multiplying, the number of multi-billion dollar disasters that are impacting this country and countries all over the world—it has changed me. These symptoms of a changing climate have changed me from a cool cucumber to somebody that’s certainly more agitated and in a bit of dismay about what’s been going on.”
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In a post on X after his initial reaction went viral, Morales had a similar message.
“Frankly, YOU should be shaken too, and demand #ClimateActionNow.”
Morales added Tuesday that many areas affected by these storms don’t have the resources for people to protect themselves.
“More often than not, it is these humble communities—the frontline communities, communities of color in the United States and all over the world, countries that had nothing to do with the injection of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere—that are suffering the worst consequences of this,” he said. “And that’s where the empathy part came in. So I was just heartbroken by that.”
Hurricane Milton, expected to make landfall Wednesday, is currently projected to have a storm surge of between 10 to 15 feet—around double that of Hurricane Helene. Parts of Tampa are under mandatory evacuation.
