Culture

Fox News’ Shepard Smith Sends A Blunt Message To Coastal Floridians About Hurricane Matthew

“You and everyone you know are dead … and your kids die too.” – Fox News’ Shepard Smith

This was the blunt message to Florida from Smith (during the above clip and even more extreme in the video below) during his coverage of Hurricane Matthew. The storm is expected to make landfall by Friday morning in the state, which is currently being battered along Miami Beach as bands of storm clouds arrive from the Category 4 hurricane. Millions of people have been ordered to immediately evacuate, and on Thursday, Governor Rick Scott warned residents, “This is going to kill people. Do not surf. Do not go on the beach. This will kill you.” This was a firm yet clear directive, but of course, there will be holdouts.

Smith isn’t exactly known for softening blows, so he took things further than Scott did while gesturing towards a map: “[If] this moves 20 miles to the west, you and everyone you know are dead.” He continued, “All of you. Because you can’t survive it. It’s not possible, unless you’re very, very lucky.” Then he added an extra bit of incentive: “And your kids die too.”

He wasn’t done with his forthright coverage: “This storm is stronger than Hugo was. Get out.” In this clip, Smith reveals how he’s about to talk to a woman who refuses to leave her home: “I’ll ask her why she’s staying, and if she expects us to cover her funeral.” Wow.