Staying calm and collected during a natural disaster is a very difficult thing to do. Even when it is about to hit, if you have lived through one already, chances are it won’t make you feel any calmer. Whenever hurricane season arrives, many people are placed on high alert. They tend to be edgier and feel the anxiety piling in with every day the hurricane gets closer.
When Hurricane Irma struck Florida right after Hurricane Harvey had caused severe damage to Houston, the whole country was on the edge of their seats. Media outlets went bananas and were being sensationalist about the whole thing. They were quick to address all the possible dangers to the different cities in the United States. Everyone was being a little paranoid but the middle of it all, meteorologist Alan Sealls appeared as the voice of calm everyone needed.
On Wednesday, Sept. 6, a few days before Irma hit Florida, Sealls gave his weather report as usual. His evening report would be a lot different, so much that it went viral. Viewers loved how this meteorologist from Mobile, Alabama looked at danger in the eye with a calm demeanor. He makes everyone’s nerves calm-down when many people are very close to losing it. He can explain what is going on in easy-to-understand terms and does it without spreading any more fear.
This doesn’t mean he is lying throughout the video, he is being very straightforward about the information. He starts off by describing Hurricane Irma as a: “Category 5 storm that has moved across the extreme northern islands of the Caribbean, now about to pass north of Puerto Rico.” Sealls goes on to explain everything the satellite imagery means. When he points out the red circle by the middle, he says:
“That’s the eye wall. That’s where you find the winds of 185 mph, but notice it has a second eye wall where you still will find intense winds likely over 100 miles an hour. In between not quite as windy. But there are other bands not quite as strong but still, it’s those bands of a hurricane where you find the most intense winds.” At this point, it is easy to realize why Sealls goes viral. Not all meteorologists take the time to explain what the satellite imagery of Hurricane Irma means.
The approach Sealls’ uses to explain what each of the meteorological models of Hurricane Irma is simple but effective. He even told viewers that: “The models don’t control the weather. It’s the attempt to keep up with what’s going on, calculate it, and regenerate another projection. So, all these [the models] may change bit by bit, but the majority of them take a turn when it gets close to south Florida.” He is exactly what the country needed at that time. Take a look and see why!
