Hurricane Milton in Florida, the meteorologist’s tears: “I apologize, it’s terrible”

«This afternoon and evening (Wednesday 9 October ed.) destructive and potentially catastrophic storms, very heavy rain and some tornadoes will begin along the west coast of Florida. Preparations, including evacuation if required, should be completed promptly.” With this message NOAA, the US government agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationwarns Floridians to leave homes and cities that may be affected by Hurricane Milton.

In many cities the warning siren has sounded indicating mandatory evacuation due to the arrival of the hurricane. Milton was ranked first category 5the highest on the Saffir-Simpson scale, then four, but it is still considered among the worst to ever hit the USA: the worst in 100 years in Florida with winds of up to 270 km per hour as announced by the US Hurricane Center. The mother could rise at least three meters even in areas already affected by Hurricane Helene two weeks ago.

It will reach the west coast of Florida and increase its intensity: for some cities there could be a risk of tornadoes according to the Storm Prediction Center. There are 11 million people at risk and 5.5 million citizens asked to leave their homes. Flood warnings are in force for around 20 million people.

«I say this without dramatising. Those who remain in the evacuation areas will die,” said Tampa Mayor Jane Castor. American President Joe Biden has canceled his trip to Europe and Africa to manage the internal emergency. How big this emergency is was also told in the words of a well-known meteorologist in the United States John Moraleson NBC, and above all his tears did it. The video went viral. “It’s just an incredible, incredible, incredible hurricane. It dropped 50 millibars in 10 hours. This is just awful.”

In an interview on Tuesday afternoon, reports the New York TimesMorales said a number of factors played a role in his tearful broadcast. Shock at the rapid intensification of the storm. Distress over the increasing number and severity of extreme weather events. Frustration with society’s inability to mitigate the pollution that is warming the planet, despite scientific certainty that it is causing increasingly violent weather. And empathy for the people, ecosystems and creatures who will suffer the destructiveness of Hurricane Milton.

After the video went viral, many young people wrote to him. He is 62 years old, has been making predictions since the 1980s and was not an alarmist. For some years he has been warning of the damage of climate change and has often been attacked on social media, but he reiterates: «The climate crisis is here. It’s not a future problem, it’s a problem today and it deserves our full attention.
So many people have contacted me to tell me that if they hadn’t seen my video, they wouldn’t have prepared adequately. They thanked me for having “saved their lives”.