John Morales, the veteran meteorologist who broke down on television while watching Hurricane Milton

During his 40-year career, the meteorologist John Morales has seen the most devastating hurricanes pass through Florida. However, last Monday, He couldn’t keep a calm face while presenting his weather segment on the NBC 6 from Miami. This, because I saw how the giant Hurricane Milton traveled the coast.

In the images broadcast on television, The phenomenon could be seen swirling into a giant, menacing red cloud. That meant the severe storm that would hit the Florida coast tonight had become a Category 5 monster, the highest, most destructive and deadliest.

It’s just at that moment that the camera captured the wave of emotions the expert faced live. “It’s an incredible, incredible, incredible hurricane…” he started to say, narrowing his glassy eyes and moving his head from side to side.

John Morales is a 62-year-old meteorologist born in New York but raised in Puerto Rico. He has a long career: he worked in the National Weather Service in the United States but he also solidified his career by covering the various hurricanes that hit the country.

“It dropped 50 millibars in 10 hours,” the meteorologist continued about Hurricane Milton, live for BNC. With these words, He explained that the fall meant something terrible was coming to the shores of Florida.

Then, with tears and a trembling voice, the expert said: “I apologize. “It’s horrible.”

The story of this emotional moment began to travel across the United States and the rest of the world. Then, different channels asked him about his reaction live.

In some media, Morales explained that he felt great anguish when he saw Hurricane Milton intensifying so quickly and feared for the lives of people, creatures and ecosystems. which will be affected by the destructive storm.

Also was surprised by the severity of this extreme weather phenomenon, an unprecedented trend in the world that is occurring due to climate change and global warming.

“It takes lives. It also destroys lives. “We need to feel compassion for those in the path of the hurricane,” said the meteorologist.

Morales is convinced that planet-warming pollution is mainly responsible for the intensity of hurricanes and other phenomena that affect the planet. The climate is increasingly violent and society does not have the capacity to alleviate the problem.

This is why The expert has gone from being a “non-alarmist meteorologist” to one who sincerely admits to his audience that he is horrified by the threats of global warming.

After his case went viral on social media, Morales said he had received support from thousands of people, especially young people.

“They almost feel represented, to a certain extent. They see this anguish and this emotion, and that’s what Gen Z and Alpha feel. They are worried about climate change. And me too.

As explained to The New York Times , For much of his career, he tried to convey climate forecasts and the arrival of extreme events in a “calm and reasonable” voice. to keep people calm and away from danger.

However, When he saw how aggressive the weather and the intensity of the storms had become, he decided to change his mind. And he doesn’t feel confident even in the predictions he makes, because climate change makes the climate and its changes completely uncertain.

“Today, I no longer feel as comfortable reassuring everyone about the strength of a storm. “I fear that cycles of rapid escalation will occur from one moment to the next. » he had already declared in an essay published in Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist in 2023.

This change, in the way it presents the climate and natural disasters, would have had an effect.

“So many people have contacted me to say that if they hadn’t seen this, they wouldn’t have prepared properly. They thanked me for “saving their lives.” Whether it was high praise or not, it was extremely encouraging. » he told the New York Times.

Your reaction to the hurricane translates into what you really think, because decided to stop restricting his emotions in the face of a scenario as complex as the one he is experiencing in the world. He feels his responsibility is to show how bad we are and the serious consequences that come with it.

In fact, as he told the same media outlet, Morales also got excited when he did a live broadcast during the season when Hurricane María made landfall in Puerto Rico, his country where he was born.

Talking about climate change in the United States is complicated. Especially because There are politicians, like the Republicans, who don’t believe in it.

The situation is so complicated that In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis signed a law removing the term “climate change” from state laws.

Meteorologist Morales admits that In recent years, he has received a lot of hate and rejection on social media, especially on X (formerly Twitter). From what he reported, there are groups of users who They call him a “climate activist” and tell him he exaggerates his predictions to create panic.

“Perhaps those who knew me as a non-alarmist, fact-based meteorologist cannot get used to my new position. This is why they argue and accuse me of exaggerating emerging weather threats. But no one can ignore the truth. » he defended himself.

At the same time, On several occasions, people met him in supermarkets or on the street and thanked him for his advice. and for being one of the few people on Miami television who dared to talk about climate change.

“We simply see what is there, what is coming, and we see it unfold before our eyes. The climate crisis is here. “This is not a problem of the future, it is a problem of today and it deserves our full attention” he assured.