As he stood before a weather map showing Hurricane Matthew's anticipated path, he said, "See this? Melbourne, Daytona Beach, all the way up to Jacksonville? This moves 20 miles to the west, and you and everyone you know are dead. All of you. Because you can't survive it. It's not possible. Unless you're very, very lucky. And your kids die too."
Earlier in the broadcast, Smith, a former Florida resident, said, "145 mile-per-hour winds lift rocks and throw them around like bullets. They turn trees into missiles. They break windows. They tear down power lines. Soon you can't see anything. The sound is deafening and completely disorienting. I've lived it and it is hell. The storm surge of a monster cyclone like Matthew, if it hits just right, will wash homes away and leave anyone inside to die a violent death."
After playing a clip of Florida Gov. Rick Scott urging residents to evacuate, Smith (starting at 3:20 in the video below) mentioned the then-current death toll in Haiti -- 108 -- and then added, "Despite the warnings, lots of people here in the United States have said they're not going anywhere. We will not cover your funerals and we will not feel sorry for you."
Simon Dumenco, aka Media Guy, is an Ad Age editor-at-large. You can follow him on Twitter @simondumenco.
