‘Be careful’: Fans worry about Ginger Zee as she reports live on Helene in Florida
Ginger Zee’s a pro at this weather stuff, but still, her fans worry.
On Thursday morning, during her 11 a.m. update, the “Good Morning America” star sent a live update on Instagram to her 1 million plus followers.
The reporter was perched on top of a platform in St. Pete Beach, where she and her crew had just “retreated.” They were just feet away from thrashing waves on a seawall as winds were increasing and water moving inland.
“I don’t know if you can hear me, I hope you can!” yells Zee, almost drowned out by the sounds of Mother Nature. “This area could see a four- to eight-feet surge; it’s a really wide storm.”
Amid the waves breaking violently and looking perilously close, Zee assured her fans she was fine.
“Obviously,” she says. “We’re doing this safely.”
A bunch of folks thought otherwise and made their feelings known in the comments section.
“Be careful.”
“I’ve been watching you all day and you make me nervous.”
“So beautiful yet scary.”
So, when will this monster storm make landfall?
“The eyewall is likely to reach the the Big Bend coastline around 8 p.m.,” said Ryan Truchelut, head meteorologist for Tallahassee-based WeatherTiger, adding Helene’s center will likely cross the central Apalachee Bay shore “prior to midnight.”
At the 4:30 p.m. update, Zee tells her fans, sopping wet, from the St. Pete Pier on Tampa Bay, that conditions are deteriorating, with the monster storm just about 140 miles away. She then tells everyone that gusts are currently at almost 70 mph.
“This is how bad it is still, at this moment,” as Zee pans the camera to major swells that have been “continuous.”
She and other experts have predicted Helene will hit the Big Bend “later tonight.”
This story was originally published September 26, 2024 at 5:32 PM.
