Al Roker remains as brash as ever, even at the age of 67.
The veteran weatherman traveled to Louisiana’s Lake Pontchartrain to report on Hurricane Ida.
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He was beaten with huge waves from the lake as he described the dimensions of the hurricane — and the video quickly went viral.
“Winds of 150 miles per hour are right now forecast,” he said. “The eyewall: 15 miles wide with 150-mile-per-hour winds.”
Sometimes his voice was overpowered by the loud roar coming from waves. “It’s basically a 15-mile-wide F3 tornado,” he summarized.
In New Orleans, Hurricane Ida has drawn grim comparison’s to 2005’s Hurricane Katrina. During Katrina, the levees burst, and the city experienced fatal flooding. More recently, the entire city lost power during Hurricane Ida on Sunday night, and communications remain spotty. The hurricane has only slightly weakened since then.
However, at this time, the levees seem to have withstood the storm at this time, after improvements in the local infrastructure.
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On Twitter, some parties expressed concerns for the wellbeing of Roker, a survivor of prostate cancer.
Philip Lewis, senior editor at The Huffington Post, tweeted, “Al Roker is almost 70 years old, why is this necessary.”
The author Chuck Wendig tweeted, “This is ridiculous, it’s stunt theater — get him inside or we’re gonna watch Al Roker get vacuumed out to sea.”
NBC anchor Chuck Todd even remarked, “Al Roker, get out of that unsafe weather there.”
Al Roker is almost 70 years old, why is this necessary https://t.co/mXw6VaQXzp
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) August 29, 2021
This is ridiculous, it’s stunt theater — get him inside or we’re gonna watch Al Roker get vacuumed out to sea https://t.co/tl6uCPzASY
— Chuck Wendig (@ChuckWendig) August 29, 2021
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Roker later tweeted a video of himself safe at home, emptying lake water from his boots.
Roker responded to these concerns on MSNBC.
“I volunteered to come out here,” Roker told MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart. “This is what I do. I’ve done this for 40 years. Our crews, we all make sure we’re safe. As much as I love the weather and I love NBC, I’m not going to risk my life for it.”
“Some people are like, ‘He’s too old to be doing this.'” Roker continued. “Hey, guess what, screw you! Try to keep up! These young punks, I will come after them. I will drop them like a bag of dirt.”
For all those who were worried about me out on #lakepontchartrain covering #Ida a) I volunteered to do this. Part of the job. b) My crew and I were safe and we are back at our hotel and c) for those who think I’m too old to to be doing this, try and keep up pic.twitter.com/DctJBFKD0D
— Al Roker (@alroker) August 29, 2021
.@alroker has a message for those who think he’s too old to stand outside in a hurricane! #SundayShow pic.twitter.com/v2RD6xA7ku
— The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart (@TheSundayShow) August 29, 2021
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Capehart struggled to contain his laughter.
Watch the original video here!
The Horn editorial team