Al Roker almost knocked out covering hurricane Ida

His viewers were left terrified after the video went viral and expressed concerns for his well being

NBC weatherman Al Roker was smacked by waves during his live show on Monday as the powerful hurricane Ida crashed into the shores of Port Fourchon, Louisiana.

The TV meteorologist appeared on NBC’s “Meet The Press” on Sunday clad in a full-body wetsuit as he struggled to stand his ground in the windy storm with raging waters near Lake Pontchartrain.

“I guess we lost communication,” Roker said on mic at one point to host Chuck Todd while struggling to stand still.

“It’s basically a 15-mile-wide F3 tornado,” he said about the hurricane which was packed with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph as a Category 4 storm. On the Fujita scale of tornado intensity, F3 indicates a severe tornado with wind speed between 158 and 206 mph.

Visuals that showed strong waves crashing into the sexagenarian as he delivered the live went viral on social media, sparking concern among his viewers about his health and safety.

Roker, 67, had undergone a surgery to remove his prostate last year after he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

“Get 67-year-old Al Roker out of this hurricane,” wrote one user.

“Al Roker getting too old being out in the storm NBC! He’s 67 years old! I’m sure Rocker (sic) feels like 40 and loves it tho!” commented another.

“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,” said another.

After his name began to trend on Twitter, the veteran weatherman reassured his fans on an MSNBC show later, and jokingly said “s***w you” to critics reminding him and others of his age.

"I volunteered to come out here," he said. "This is what I do. I’ve done this for 40 years. We all make sure we’re safe, we’re not going to do something that’s gonna put ourselves in harm’s way. As much as l love weather and I love NBC, I’m not gonna risk my life for it,” he said.

“Some people are like, ‘He’s too old to be doing this.’ Hey, guess what, s***w you! Try to keep up!” Roker said.

“These young punks, I will come after them,” he joked. “I will drop them like a bag of dirt.”

Roker also issued a tweet and shared a video of emptying water from his boots at his hotel.

"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 to [sic] be doing this, try and keep up," he said.

Hurricane Ida, which hit Louisiana with Category 4 winds, not only left around 673,000 residents of Orleans Parish without power but also caused the Mississippi river to reverse course on Sunday.

President Joe Biden on Sunday approved a major disaster declaration for Louisiana, making federal aid available to the state. Ida struck on the 16th anniversary of Katrina, one of America’s deadliest hurricanes in history.

As of Monday morning, Ida had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, meaning it was a Category 1 hurricane, more than 12 hours after it made landfall.