Florida meteorologist John Morales struggled to hold back tears while broadcasting on Hurricane Milton’s upgrades, giving updates on the storm’s bump to a Category 5 to NBC affiliate WTVJ when he got choked up.
“Incredible, incredible hurricane,” he said tearing up. “It has dropped 50 millibars in 10 hours. I apologize, this is just horrific.”
Morales went off camera as he continued to break down the storm’s growth and trajectory but the emotion was still very evident in his voice.
“The seas are just so incredibly incredibly hot,” the meteorologist said. “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.”
Hurricane Milton was upgraded to a Category 3 storm on Monday before quickly climbing to Category 5 hours later. Morales reported that the hurricane could produce 160 mph winds and a possible 12 foot storm surge. The storm is expected to hit Tampa Bay but it likely will have weakened back to a Category 3 by that point according to WTVJ.
“Even though it is expected to weaken on approach, it is so incredibly strong right now that you’re going to find it very difficult for it to be nothing less than a major hurricane when it makes landfall in Florida,” Morales said.
Hurricane Milton is coming just a couple weeks after Florida was devastated by Hurricane Helene.
Watch the video of Morales’ emotional broadcast above.
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