‘I Apologize, This Is Just Horrific’: NBC Specialist Tears Up During Report on Hurricane Milton

NBC 6 South Florida hurricane specialist John Morales teared up during an emotional report on the trajectory of Hurricane Milton on Monday.

Delivering an update on the Category 5 hurricane, Morales said, “It’s just an incredible, incredible, incredible hurricane. It has dropped–”

Morales stopped mid-sentence and began to tear up as he continued:

It has dropped 50 millibars in ten hours. Um, I apologize. This is just horrific. Maximum sustained winds are 160 miles per hour and it is just gaining strength in the Gulf of Mexico, where you can imagine the winds. I mean, the seas are just so incredibly, incredibly hot. Record hot, as you can 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 for Yucatan, including Merida and Progreso and other areas there.

Morales warned, “On that track, you’re going to notice that this system is going to come very, very close to the Yucatan and the dirty side of this hurricane, folks, is on the right-hand side of its progress. So therefore, they’re going to get the dirty side there. These communities, many of them, as you might imagine, many folks, you know, in that area have just the very basics. Just the basics. Nothing else but that, so it’s going to be very tough.”

Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall in Florida on Wednesday, with forecasters predicting that it could be “one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida.”

President Joe Biden approved Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ request for an emergency declaration on Monday, allowing FEMA to provide federal support in the state, including evacuation and rescue.

Watch above via NBC 6.