--- title: Weather Channel Reporter's Florence Struggles Go Viral description: Everyone is getting a good laugh at the over-the-top reporting, which the Weather Channel defended by saying he was on "wet grass." canonical: https://time.com/5397598/weather-channel-reporter-viral-video/ author: Alix Langone article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-09-16T17:31:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T07:54:22.539Z og:title: Weather Channel Reporter Gets Called Out for Struggling Through Florence While Locals Stroll By og:description: Struggling against seemingly non-existent wind is a dangerous job, but somebody's got to do it og:url: https://time.com/5397598/weather-channel-reporter-viral-video/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0ff3e3a4977bf01/69893a63457a52f607d5f64b/screen-shot-2018-09-16-at-1-24-06-pm.png?branch=production&width=1006&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1006 og:image:height: 566 og:image:alt: Screen Shot 2018-09-16 at 1.24.06 PM og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Weather Channel Reporter Gets Called Out for Struggling Through Florence While Locals Stroll By twitter:description: Struggling against seemingly non-existent wind is a dangerous job, but somebody's got to do it twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0ff3e3a4977bf01/69893a63457a52f607d5f64b/screen-shot-2018-09-16-at-1-24-06-pm.png?branch=production&width=1006&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Weather Channel Reporter Gets Called Out for Struggling Through Florence While Locals Stroll by > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=0552dd41-50d3-4faa-857a-3e8c0b7b02bb&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Florence's Death Toll Stands at 17 as It Weakens to a Depression [Watch (HLS stream): Florence's Death Toll Stands at 17 as It Weakens to a Depression](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/SpGU759q.m3u8) (1:27)  _Published 2018-09-10. Hurricane Florence landed with great force in North Carolina on Friday, causing at least four deaths, bringing multiple feet of rain and threatening widespread destruction for the coming days._ by [Alix Langone](https://time.com/author/alix-langone/) ## Alix Langone Sep 16, 2018 5:31 PM UTC Hurricane Florence landed with great force in North Carolina on Friday, causing at least four deaths, bringing multiple feet of rain and threatening widespread destruction for the coming days. by [Alix Langone](https://time.com/author/alix-langone/) ## Alix Langone Sep 16, 2018 5:31 PM UTC The internet is having a field day with a video of a Weather Channel reporter who appears to be struggling to stay upright against the wind in Wilmington, N.C. during what was then Hurricane Florence. The reporter, Mike Seidel, used dramatic movements to seemingly keep his balance during a live shot on Friday. But then, two men enter the frame behind him and seem to have no trouble walking around. One Twitter user — whose post has been retweeted more than 230,000 times — captioned the video: “So dramatic! Dude from the weather channel bracing for his life, as 2 dudes just stroll past.” > [](https://twitter.com/gourdnibler/status/1040678572262916096) Hurricane Florence, which was [downgraded to a tropical depression Sunday](http://time.com/5397509/florence-death-toll-14-depression/), is a serious and life-threatening weather event that has already killed 14 people, and Seidel seemed to really put on a show for his audience. “This is about as nasty as it’s been,” he says, while bracing himself against wind that the others seemed to have few problems with. The Weather Channel issued [a statement to the Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2018/09/14/weather-channel-correspondent-busted-for-dramatic-wind-lean-in/?utm%5Fterm=.ab8e39d0210a) Saturday defending the reporter’s viral performance, saying he was “undoubtedly exhausted.” “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 statement said. Although Seidel was seemingly not in a dangerous situation, people in areas with warnings of flash floods, [record-breaking rainfall](http://time.com/5397241/florence-breaks-rainfall-records-in-north-carolina/) and severe flooding should heed any and all weather warnings to stay as safe as possible. In the meantime, the internet has given us all a good laugh during what is a difficult time for many, as Florence continues to wreak havoc on cities and towns up and down the East Coast. > [](https://twitter.com/ladbible/status/1040881733900685312) > [](https://twitter.com/JeremyRKemp/status/1041284652395311105) > [](https://twitter.com/bayrakhamza%5F/status/1040853822661378048) > [](https://twitter.com/scottsalesforce/status/1040681105475739648) ## Transcript [00:01] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [00:06] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5397598/weather-channel-reporter-viral-video/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5397598/weather-channel-reporter-viral-video/"},"headline":"Weather Channel Reporter Gets Called Out for Struggling Through Florence While Locals Stroll by","datePublished":"2018-09-16T17:31:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-13T07:54:22.539Z","description":"Struggling against seemingly non-existent wind is a dangerous job, but somebody's got to do it","url":"https://time.com/5397598/weather-channel-reporter-viral-video/","keywords":["Newsfeed","weather","onetime","Hurricane Florence"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0ff3e3a4977bf01/69893a63457a52f607d5f64b/screen-shot-2018-09-16-at-1-24-06-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alix Langone","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alix-langone/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0ff3e3a4977bf01/69893a63457a52f607d5f64b/screen-shot-2018-09-16-at-1-24-06-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Screen Shot 2018-09-16 at 1.24.06 PM","caption":"","creditText":"Twitter User @gourdnibler","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5397598/weather-channel-reporter-viral-video/","name":"Weather Channel Reporter Gets Called Out for Struggling Through Florence While Locals Stroll by"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Florence's Death Toll Stands at 17 as It Weakens to a Depression","description":"Hurricane Florence landed with great force in North Carolina on Friday, causing at least four deaths, bringing multiple feet of rain and threatening widespread destruction for the coming days.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/SpGU759q/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-09-10T07:09:40.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/SpGU759q.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5397598/weather-channel-reporter-viral-video/","duration":"PT1M27S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5397598/weather-channel-reporter-viral-video/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```