Meteorologist Al Roker is doing what he does best as Hurricane Ida makes landfall – he’s reporting from the ground. But as the 140-mph winds blow and the Gulf of Mexico surges, his fans are concerned about his safety. To those people, he has a message of assurance that he’s perfectly capable of handling himself.
As Roker reported live from Louisiana on “Meet the Press” Sunday morning, he was slammed by huge waves, struggling to hear host Chuck Todd and to just remain standing. Within minutes, fans on Twitter were expressing their concern for Roker and questioning NBC for having him reporting in such dangerous conditions.
“Al Roker is almost 70 years old, why is this necessary,” Philip Lewis tweeted. Mike Scollins even went so far as to joke that the network was “hazing” Roker.
But, later in the morning, Roker reassured fans that he was totally fine. During an appearance on “The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart,” Roker noted that he willingly went to the scene of the building natural disaster.
“I volunteered to come out here. This is what I do, I’ve done this for 40 years,” Roker said. “We all make sure we’re safe, we’re not going to do something that’s gonna put ourselves in harm’s way. As much as I love the weather, and I love NBC, I’m not gonna risk my life for it.”
Roker had a few more pointed words for those suggesting he is too old — Roker is currently 67 years old — to still be reporting in the middle of storms.
“‘Well, he’s too old to be doing this,’” Roker said, parroting the tweets. “Hey, guess what? Screw you! OK?” he joked. “Try to keep up! Keep up, OK? That’s it. These young punks, I will go after them! I will drop them like a bag of dirt!”
You can watch Roker’s full comments in the video above.