The southeastern coast of the United States is currently facing the wrath of Hurricane Matthew, which has already weaved a devastating path through the Atlantic Ocean and several island nations. And while many Floridians have been left without power as the storm made its way up the coast, things haven't been quite as bad as predicted by a Fox News weather update, which yesterday offered up the most nonchalant example of doomsaying I've ever witnessed. Check it out!
I'm not sure that even the great comedian Steven Wright would have done a better job of deadpanning that warning than Fox News anchor Shep Smith, who could not have been less convinced by his own words. Smith is perhaps a little hyperbolic, in the way that Hurricane Matthew is a "little bit of water," and it's likely that a storm shift that took Matthew 20 miles west wouldn't kill millions of Fox News viewers and everyone they know. But hey, nobody ever got their lives saved by having newscasters sit back and keep their lips zipped.
It'd be one thing if this Twitter clip showed Shep Smith hollering a lot while holding a torch and wearing a sandwich board that says "The End is Nigh!" You look at somebody with those kinds of accessories and you expect some fear mongering to get tossed around. But he's just reporting the weather in the usual suit and tie, so it's just a tad disconcerting when he drops in that piece of conjecture involving the certain death of untold numbers of Floridians. Just a tad.
The initial "you will die - all of you," part was bothersome enough, but then Smith took it up a notch right there at the very end, completely nullifying the "very, very lucky" exception clause with the addendum "And your kids die, too." It's unclear if he was supposed to include "and your kids die, too" along with the first part about the loved ones, or if Shep Smith is saying that people are only very, very lucky IF their kids die, too. I obviously don't imagine that this is the case, but that was an extremely weird place to insert that sentiment, so anything is possible.
Tragically, Hurricane Matthew has indeed killed many people since first forming in the Atlantic, though almost entirely outside of the United States. Haiti, where at least 842 deaths have been reported as a result of the storm, has taken the biggest hit. Matthew has, at the time of this writing, been reduced to a Category 3 storm and, while it isn't hitting the coast with the power that everyone thought yesterday, when Shep Smith made his foreboding announcement, it's still a very dangerous and unpredictable storm that should not be taken lightly. Stay safe and dry and inside, people.
And while you're waiting to see what other kind of uncomfortable or hilarious weather coverage comes out of everything focused on Hurricane Matthew, check out our fall premiere schedule to see what's coming to the small screen in the near future.
