Weatherman Loses It In Hurricane Segment: ‘Everyone You Know Is Dead…Your Kids Die, Too’

Fox News anchor Shep Smith goes over the top warning of hurricane danger

Thursday night, Shep Smith used his time on FOX News to provide an update on Hurricane Matthew, a big, scary storm that was rapidly approaching Florida. In an effort to get residents to evacuate, he attempted to drive home the severity of the storm and the danger it brought with it. But he might have gone a little too far…

In a segment on his show, Smith used his pulpit to press viewers to protect themselves by leaving the area, and he warned them of the consequences if they didn’t. A responsible, noble, effort with maybe a slightly questionable method?

“This moves 20 miles to the west, and you and everyone you know are dead — all of you — because you can’t survive it… It’s not possible unless you’re very, very lucky. And your kids die, too.”

AND I HOPE YOU BURN IN HELL! (He didn’t actually say that part.)

Give the guy a little credit; his heart was in the right place. But the extremity of his warning, and the deadpan nature of his delivery, is like something out of Anchorman. Or maybe Bill Murray’s “Dogs and cats, living together! Mass hysteria!” speech at the end of Ghostbusters. Smith stopped short of saying the Hurricane would approach the coast dressed in a sailor outfit, but he came close enough.

Obviously, Hurricane Matthew is no joke. As of this morning, it has been downgraded to a category one storm as it hits South Carolina, but there’s a death toll of over 800 in Haiti, and Smith was right to urge Florida residents to evacuate.

Threatening families and their children with certain death maybe wasn’t the best way to convince people to leave and/or that he’s a reasonable person they should trust with relaying the news, but hey, if a few families listened, more power to him. Who cares if he reminded you of that toothless loon standing on the street corner wearing a sandwich board that says “THE END IS NEER!”

In one respect, a little urgency is appreciated. These days, there’s so much noise, and when it comes to weather, so much made of potential storms that ultimately amount to nothing, that reports on storms like Hurricane Matthew can be hard to take seriously. So kudos to Shep Smith for driving it home with the intensity of an unhinged preacher speaking in tongues.

To be honest, I wish Smith’s compatriots at Fox News would follow his lead when it comes to reporting on the other extreme danger facing this country: the possible presidency of Donald Trump.