As Hurricane Florence leaves a devastating mark on North and South Carolina, meteorologists are braving the conditions to show viewers at home just how damaging Florence is. But for The Weather Channel‘s popular American meteorologist and field reporter Mike Seidel, things got a little awkward during one particular live cross.
In the live segment captured in Wilmington, North Carolina, Seidel can be seen physically struggling against the wind as he tries to deliver his live cross. And then suddenly, two men casually walk by in the background in complete contrast to the struggling Seidel.
“This is about as nasty as it’s been, we had some bands like this last night,” Seidel says as the men walk by.
However, Seidel isn’t aware of this little blip and keeps on going with his report.
Naturally, someone was recording the live cross on their telly and posted it on Twitter so the footage went viral.
So far it’s copped more than 300,000 retweets and 150,000 comments.
You can catch the video, below.
So dramatic! Dude from the weather channel bracing for his life, as 2 dudes just stroll past. #HurricaneFlorence pic.twitter.com/8FRyM4NLbL
— Tony scar. (@gourdnibler) September 14, 2018
Viewers were quick to criticise/roast Seidel and The Weather Channel in general with many turning the footage into a meme or comparing Seidel’s actions to football players flopping in the World Cup. Others whipped out old footage from similar incidents of… not so dramatic weather reports.
https://twitter.com/NotDRovell/status/1040692327059218437
In a statement to HuffPost The Weather Channel said:
“It’s important to note that the two individuals in the background are walking on concrete, and Mike Seidel is trying to maintain his footing on wet grass, after reporting on-air until 1:00 a.m. ET this morning and is undoubtedly exhausted.”
A couple of people did defend Seidel like Eric Fisher, chief meteorologist for CBS Boston‘s WBZ-TV News. In a reply to a tweet shading Seidel, Fisher wrote: “It’s Mike Seidel dude. The guy has done more live weather reporting than anyone in the history of TV. He was working since 1am and barely sleeps. I’ll give him a pass even though it looks silly.”
