Al Roker Blasts 'Young Punks' Saying He's 'Too Old' to Cover Hurricane Ida

Al Roker blasted "young punks" who suggested he was too old to be covering hurricanes.

It came after Roker, 67, appeared live from Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans for a segment on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday as Hurricane Ida neared landfall.

The weather forecaster was seen being pummeled by huge waves as he reported on what is basically "a 15 mile-wide, F3 tornado."

The clip prompted some on Twitter to express concern for his safety, and some tweets suggested that Roker is too old to be reporting live on television amid dangerous conditions.

"Al Roker is almost 70 years old, why is this necessary," Phillip Lewis tweeted.

Mia Farrow wrote: "Its not necessary @alroker. We get it. Go inside."

Rita Powell added: "It's 2021. I don't need to see Al Roker risking his life and his crew's lives to show me a hurricane. It can be reported on without standing outside in the middle of it."

Roker hit back in a tweet that included a video showing him draining lake water from boots in his hotel bathroom.

"For all those who were worried about me out on #lakepontchartrain covering #Ida a) I volunteered to do this. Part of the job. b) My crew and I were safe and we are back at our hotel and c) for those who think I'm too old to be doing this, try and keep up," he wrote.

And it wasn't long before Roker was back on air, speaking to Jonathan Capehart on MSNBC from the French Quarter in New Orleans.

Capeheart played some of the earlier footage of Roker, causing him to again respond to those on social media who said he shouldn't be out during the hurricane.

"Folks on Twitter have been... well, first of all, 'why is NBC putting him out there?' I volunteered to come out here. This is what I do. I've done this for 40 years, our crews, and we all make sure we're safe, we're not going to do something that's going to put themselves at harm's way," Roker said.

"As much as I love the weather and I love NBC, I'm not gonna risk my life for it."

He continued: "Secondly, 'Well, he's too old to be doing this.' Well, hey, guess what? Screw you! And try to keep up! Keep up!"

Capehart burst out laughing as Roker continued his tirade. "These young punks. I will come after them. I will drop them like a bag of dirt!" he added.

The graphic below, provided by Statista, shows the number of tropical cyclones over the Atlantic basin between 1967 and 2020.

Update 8/31, 7a.m. ET: This article has been updated with a graphic.