Meteorologist Tells Colleagues To Take Cover As He Realizes Tornado Threat On Air
A meteorologist reporting on severe storms in Chicago warned on air Wednesday that his colleagues should take cover after he realized their studio was in the path of a possible tornado.
“Newsroom, time to get out of the newsroom,” CBS Chicago’s chief meteorologist Albert Ramon said during the broadcast. “Just get into interior rooms. We have enough rotation. If you want to, you can come to our level, we are in the most protected part of the building. But we gotta get away from windows now.”
Responding to a clip of the moment online, Ramon tweeted: “We have to practice what we preach.”
He said CBS Chicago had briefly evacuated its fourth-floor newsroom, which is surrounded by windows, “due to a rotating storm that prompted a tornado warning over the loop.”
Pretty startling watching CBS Chicago’s tornado coverage right now — anchor realizes on-air that the rotating storm is basically on top of their studios, and urges his colleagues up in the newsroom to seek shelter pic.twitter.com/utkiYyb4K2
— 𝘽𝙧𝙮𝙖𝙣 𝙋𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙪𝙢𝙚 (@BryanPassifiume) July 12, 2023
Multiple tornadoes are suspected to have touched down around northeast Illinois on Wednesday evening, according to the National Weather Service Chicago.
Several of the storms, spawned by rotating thunderstorms known as supercells, tracked in close proximity to one another, the weather service said.
In dramatic videos, a tornado could be seen forming over the city’s O’Hare International Airport, prompting people inside to seek shelter. The weather service confirmed just after 7 p.m. that the tornado had touched down near the airport and urged people to “TAKE COVER NOW!”
NWS Chicago said it would survey damage over the coming days. Some property damage occurred but there were no immediate reports of injuries.
