The video has now gone viral, it has more than 13.6 million views. The popular clip shows Weather Channel correspondent Mike Seidel in Wilmington, North Carolina, trying to fight the heavy wind as he reported live from the storm on Friday.
Hurricane Storm Florence was wreaking havoc as it lashed through the Carolinas with massive winds and heavy rain. Seidel was captured attempting to remain standing against the winds that were threatening him. But while reporting live, two people were seen walking behind him with very little difficulty.
Seidel is saying on the live broadcast, “This is about as nasty as it’s been.” That’s about when the camera panned away and two people were just walking behind him with no problems.
Social media had a heyday with the perceived dramatics exaggerating the storm.
“So dramatic!” one social media user tweeted with the video. “Dude from the Weather Channel bracing for his life, as 2 dudes just stroll past.”
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
The Weather Channel defended Seidel saying he was “trying to maintain his footing on wet grass” while the two people seen in the background were walking on concrete, The Washington Post reported.
“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,” the channel said in a statement.
Florence was once a powerful Category 4 storm, but by the time it made landfall, it was downgraded to a slow moving Category 1 when it made landfall near Wrightsville, North Carolina on Friday. Eventually it became a tropical storm hours later.
Hundreds of people were rescued in New Bern, North Carolina, on Friday. At least seven people, including a mother and an infant, were killed in the storm.
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