A Mississippi TV weatherman who became a viral sensation for his heartfelt prayer during a deadly tornado in 2023 is among a number of staffers who have been laid off as a part of a corporate restructuring effort.
Matt Laubhan, former chief meteorologist at local ABC affiliate WTVA in northeast Mississippi, became a social media phenom in March 2023 after he prayed on-air for those in the path of a dangerous EF-3 tornado in Amory, Mississippi, a town of about 6,000 residents.
"So, Amory, we need to be in our tornado-safe place. We've got new scan coming in here as we speak," he said during an on-air report Friday night as the storm drew closer to the city. "Oh man, like, north side of Amory, this is coming in. Oh man."
Laubhan paused his live broadcast, looked down, and quietly prayed: "Dear Jesus, please help them. Amen." Laubhan then continued his report, pausing briefly to ask staff to check on a colleague's family in the area.
WTVA's parent company, Allen Media Group (AMG), announced a restructuring move last May that impacted about 2,500 employees. In October, AMG laid off several WTVA employees.
Laubhan, along with his weather team, is set to be replaced by a regional weather service operated by The Weather Channel, AMG's parent company. The restructuring announced by AMG, which affects over 100 meteorologists across 20 stations nationwide, will soon replace local weather forecasting with pre-recorded segments from The Weather Channel.
CP reached out to Laubhan on Monday for comment. This story will be updated if a response is received.
Laubhan has yet to publicly comment on his layoff but is remembered by many as a beacon of hope and guidance during some of the region's most trying weather events.
Laubhan's supporters are voicing their outrage at the decision. One viewer called Laubhan an invaluable local presence whose connection to the region went beyond weather reporting.
"Matt is more than a meteorologist to us. He is a neighbor, a friend, and a face we could rely on," north Mississippi resident Helen Thorson said in a Jan. 17 post on Facebook.
Another resident, Matt Chisholm, shared an image of a large tree that crashed into a room of his home where Chisholm's then-6-month-old child regularly slept during a storm.
"The sobering truth is this … had my family and I not heeded the warning of the approaching storm, my baby girl would have been crushed in that pile of rubble and would not be with us today. By the grace of God, between an amateur knowledge of weather, I have been blessed with and affirmation from Matt Laubhan on WTVA, my family and I were safe in a nearby friend's storm shelter as our home was destroyed."
