With social media being so ubiquitous, it's rare to feel like you're having an original experience anymore. But meteorologist Matthew Cappucci of The Washington Post may have just cracked the code.
Cappucci was aboard a helicopter, reporting to the publication's Capital Weather Gang about Hurricane Melissa, which has brutalized Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica, leaving terrible flooding and damage in her wake.
Though Cappucci has reported on major storm systems before, he soon realized that the turbulence created by Hurricane Melissa was much more extreme than he and his team had anticipated.
While the helicopter remained in the air and unharmed, Cappucci became ill while reporting—and vomited on film.
When the footage was made available to the public, Cappucci could still be seen vomiting, though only his forehead was visible.
Since the incident, Cappucci has made light of the situation, joking that his career is all downhill from here.
"Puking on national TV."
"I think my television career has peaked."
"Also rest assured I was fine 5 minutes later."
"I knew what I was into and it was worth it 10 fold."
But the meteorologist then opened up to CNN, revealing a much more thoughtful reason for keeping the footage in.
CNN's Erin Burnett asked:
"I know that you got sick on the flight. I mean, it was that horrifically turbulent, even though you've done this before."
"You did record that so everyone could understand just the severity of this."
Cappucci confirmed:
"[It was] very reminiscent of a roller coaster at night."
"If you've ever been on Space Mountain at Disney World, you sort of know how it is. You know it's dark, you don't know if you're going up, down, left, or right. You're jostled all about, to and fro."
After the "ten crazy minutes with the turbulence," Cappucci shared the surreal calm that he experienced.
"And I have to say, that was one of the most breathtaking and simultaneously horrifying experiences I've ever had."
"Even though it was night, the moon was illuminating what we call the 'stadium effect.'"
"Basically, you're right in the middle of this atmospheric sink drain, and yet you look up, all around you, 360 degrees, towering, hulking thunderstorms overhead, spiraling around, marking that eyewall."
When Burnett asked what was important about this storm, Cappucci voiced his concern for Jamaica specifically.
"It will be very difficult for Jamaica to avert a potentially significant humanitarian crisis."
"And I've covered many storms. I've seen high-end hurricanes before."
"But it's very rare that we get a hurricane of this magnitude heading to a place that has 2.8 million people there."
Matthew Cappucci earned serious respect for his commitment to reporting after the CNN interview.
Cappucci put the perfect spin on it and used his moment to illustrate how severe Hurricane Melissa is so that viewers will better appreciate the complexity of the storm and what the people on the ground are experiencing, especially in Jamaica.
