While Clinton-Trump II is set for Sunday night, there is a news story of epic proportions drawing attention away from the debate: Hurricane Matthew.
As of Thursday at 5 p.m. ET, the eye of Matthew is 20 miles southeast of Freeport, Bahamas, 100 miles southeast of West Palm Beach, Fla., is bringing winds topping 140 miles per hour and has been upgraded to a Category 4 storm. Matthew is moving to the northwest at 14 miles per hour, and according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, “the eye of extremely dangerous Hurricane Matthew is about to hit Freeport in the Bahamas. Potentially disastrous impacts for Florida.”
A hurricane warning is currently in effect from Golden Beach, Fla. (Miami-Dade County) to South Santee River, S.C. Matthew is expected to bring intense hurricane conditions to Savannah, Ga. and much of the coastal Carolinas late Friday night into Saturday.
So who are the networks dispatching to the Atlantic Coast to brave the elements?
The Weather Channel has 14 correspondents in the field including Jim Cantore, Janel Klein, Stephanie Abrams, Sam Champion, Reynolds Wolf, Ron Blome, Jen Carfagno, Mark Elliot, Maria LaRosa, Mike Bettes, Alex Wilson, Paul Goodloe, Mike Seidel and Chris Warren.
Cantore will be in Fort Pierce, Fla. tonight and Friday. Abrams and Goodloe are live from Jacksonville Beach; Carfano and Wilson in Daytona Beach; Malkoff in Nassau; Wolf, Blome, and Champion in Juno Beach; Klein in Brunswick, Ga.; Warren, LaRosa, and Bettes in Charleston, S.C.; Seidel in Fort Pierce; Elliot in Savannah.
CBS is sending Scott Pelley to West Palm Beach, Fla. to anchor the CBS Evening News. Other CBS News correspondents covering: Manuel Bojorquez and Mark Strassmann in Florida; Omar Villafranca in the Bahamas; Errol Barnett in Georgia and Jericka Duncan is in South Carolina.
NBC is sending Lester Holt to Melbourne, Fla. to anchor NBC Nightly News. NBC News and MSNBC have Tammy Leitner in Nassau, Miguel Almaguer in Palm Beach, Blake McCoy in Fort Lauderdale, Kerry Sanders, and Morgan Radford in Miami, Ron Mott in Daytona Beach and Mariana Atencio in Melbourne. En route to Florida and Georgia are Rehema Ellis, Gabe Gutierrez, Chris Jansing, Craig Melvin, Gadi Schwartz, Jacob Soboroff, Kevin Tibbles, and Dr. John Torres.
ABC News is sending David Muir to anchor World News Tonight from Jacksonville, Fla. Gio Benitez is reporting from West Palm Beach, Ginger Zee in Melbourne, Fla., Eva Pilgrim in Jacksonville, Steve Osunsami in Savannah, Alex Perez in Nassau, Bahamas, Rob Marciano in Charleston, Marci Gonzalez and Lauren Lyster in New Smyrna Beach, Fla.
Fox News has Bryan Llenas and Steve Harrigan in Sebastian Inlet, Fla., Phil Keating and Leland Vittert in Daytona Beach, and Jonathan Serrie in Charleston. Fox Business’s Adam Shapiro is also reporting from Daytona Beach.
CNN has 13 correspondents in the field, including Nick Valencia in Palm Beach, Michael Holmes and Jennifer Gray in Melbourne, Boris Sanchez and Sara Sidner in Daytona Beach, Chris Cuomo, Poppy Harlow and Rosa Flores in Jacksonville, Ryan Young and Alison Kosik in Orlando, Stephanie Elam and Sara Ganim in Savannah, and Brian Todd in Charleston.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who has become well-known for his on-site coverage of hurricanes throughout his career, will not be in the field for Hurricane Matthew. The plan is for him to head to St. Louis tomorrow as he’ll be co-moderating Sunday’s debate along with ABC News’ Martha Raddatz.
Speaking of the debate, Matthew may have an impact on ratings. According to Florida Power and Light, “as many as 2.5 million customers could potentially lose power. Some areas with extended outages as we rebuild part of the grid.” Additionally, the debate is also going up against a compelling NBC Sunday Night Football matchup between the Giants and Packers. The radar snapshot below from 6 p.m. ET, October 6.
