Al Roker had a direct response to viewers concerned about him being too old to report extreme weather from outside.
To Today co-host trended online over the weekend after a video of the 67-year-old covering Hurricane Ida on the ground went viral on social media.
“Al Roker is almost 70 years old, why is this necessary?” one person wrote on Twitter. “Maybe let’s not. A 70-year-old in the eye of a hurricane isn’t that much fun to see,” another person said online. Some social media users even called out NBC for sending Roker out into the field as the storm made landfall in Louisiana.
But the beloved weatherman reassured audiences in every neck of the woods that he’s a professional.
“This is what I do,” Roker said on Sunday (August 29) during an appearance on The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart.
“I volunteered to come out here,” he shared, reminding people he’s been reporting the weather for a long time. “I’ve done this for 40 years. We all make sure we’re safe, we’re not going to do something that’s gonna put ourselves in harm’s way. As much as I love weather and I love NBC, I’m not gonna risk my life for it.”
He also had a fiery response to address the comments about his age and his ability to report the weather on the ground:
“Well, hey guess what? Screw you! Okay! Try to keep up!” Roker said. He took to Instagram to give viewers an inside look at his water-filled boots after returning safely to his hotel.
“My crew and I were safe and we are back at our hotel,” he wrote in part in the caption.
The storm has claimed the life of one man in Louisiana who died after a tree fell on his home. Hundreds of residents across Louisiana and Mississippi remain stranded as floodwater topple 10 to 12 feet. State officials are reportedly expecting the storm’s death toll to rise as search and rescue efforts get underway.
To help people impacted by Hurricane Ida, check out these organizations by clicking here.
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