A meteorologist in Atlanta said some viewers threatened to kill her after she interrupted a broadcast of Tiger Woods’s golf tournament with tornado updates.
Some fans clearly didn’t appreciate the interruptions forcing Dorsey to post to Twitter that she would continue to issue warnings to ensure public safety—despite receiving death threats.
The National Weather Service confirmed a total of 42 tornadoes across eight states from Texas to Pennsylvania starting early on Saturday morning, April 13. At least nine people have been reported dead, including three children. Two of the nine deaths occurred in flash flooding in Louisiana.
Dorsey announced the weather warnings via a split screen while the golf tournament continued to be broadcast on mute.
Some viewers complained that the interruptions were too lengthy and could be done via text scrolling at the bottom of the screen.
Other viewers, didn’t mind, and were grateful for the warnings.
The split-screen tornado warnings didn’t bother a golf fan either.
Dorsey’s news director, Steve Doerr, was surprised by the vitriol that Dorsey’s tornado warnings elicited.
To those who doubted Dorsey’s tweet, he said: “They wouldn’t be skeptical if they were here yesterday answering phone calls. People were vicious.”
A tornado did later sweep through Butts County, Georgia, felling power lines and trees through the metro area in its wake.
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