Mississippi Meteorologist Visibly Emotional on Air As Tornado Hits City

A meteorologist in Mississippi became visibly emotional and offered a prayer to Jesus live on air after forecasting a tornado was going to head through the town of Amory.

On Friday, at least 14 people died when storms raced through the state, with tornado warnings issued for a number of areas.

Before the storm arrived Matt Laubhan, chief meteorologist for local network WTVA, was giving viewers an update on what to expect.

Referring to a tornado, Laubhan said: "Assuming we're moving at 65 miles per hour I'd say the western few streets in Amory are now less than two minutes away. This is a strong life-threatening tornado that's going to move either extremely close to Amory or in through the northern part of the city of Amory.

"Here's the thing about this, y'all trust me too much. I tell you where it goes and some of you are like 'that's where it's going to go,' but the reality is this could be changing directions. So Amory, we need to be in our tornado safe place."

At this point, Laubhan suddenly looked worried and emotional, as he revealed a new forecast putting Amory even more in the firing zone.

He said: "We got a new scan coming in now as we speak, argh man, north side of Amory, this is coming in. Argh man, dear Jesus please help them, amen.

"So, it's going to track along Highway 25, unfortunately, this is cut a little bit more east. This is going to cross the Highway 6 bridge within the next 20 seconds or so."

According to Fox News, at least 14 people were killed in Mississippi by the storms, which tore across the state on Friday evening destroying some buildings.

These included seven deaths reported in the town of Rolling Fork and another three in Carroll County. No deaths have been reported so far in Amory, though the town was badly hit.

According to Fox, one Amory resident posted photos of the devastation on her Facebook page, writing: "Amory got hit, but we got out. Trying to get home if we still have one."

On Twitter, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves wrote: "Many in the MS Delta need your prayer and God's protection tonight.

"We have activated medical support—surging more ambulances and other emergency assets for those affected. Search and rescue is active.

"Watch weather reports and stay cautious through the night, Mississippi!"

On Wednesday, video of a separate tornado making its way through the Greater Los Angeles area went viral on social media.

At the beginning of March, storms, including tornados, struck across Texas, leaving at least 10 people dead.