UPDATE: Allen Media Group has reportedly backed off plans to replace meteorologists, including Matt Laubhan. Read more here.
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INITIAL REPORT: Matt Laubhan, a Mississippi meteorologist, is reportedly out of the job after he went viral more than a year ago for pausing his broadcast to pray as a tornado touched down in the Magnolia State.
The now-former chief meteorologist for ABC affiliate WTVA became somewhat of a social media star in March 2023 for his on-air prayer for the 6,000-some residents of Armory, Mississippi, who were in the path of a dangerous EF-3 tornado.
Allen Media Group, the parent company for WTVA, first announced in May of last year it was restructuring, impacting about 2,500 employees. Then, in October, the organization laid off several WTVA staffers.
As a result, Laubhan and his weather team were reportedly set to be replaced by a regional weather service operated by AMG’s parent company, The Weather Channel, according to The Christian Post. The restructuring announcement would affect more than 100 meteorologists across 20 stations around the nation by replacing their local broadcasts with prerecorded segments from The Weather Channel.
Laubhan spoke with CBN News in April 2023, explaining he does not believe in “coincidences” and is confident God used his prayer to positively impact those who heard it.
“I do not believe that there are coincidences,” he said. “I believe every possible moment has happened to lead you to this moment.”
The Christian meteorologist went on to say that when he chose to pray during a live weather forecast, he was living out a lesson he has shared with his kids: Believers should pray whenever God prompts them, not concerning themselves with getting their words just right.
“[I’ve] always taught [my] kids that prayer does not need to be like a pharisee — this long, elaborate [invocation],” he told CBN. “If you have something in your heart, say it. God understands it.”
On the surface, it doesn’t appear Laubhan’s replacement is intentionally targeting him, as he’s one of many meteorologists whose broadcasts are being replaced by one-size-fits-all segments. Nevertheless, fans of Laubhan were voicing their disappointment at his exit from the ABC affiliate station.
“Matt is more than a meteorologist to us,” wrote Mississippi resident Helen Thorson in a Jan. 17 Facebook post addressing the AMG decision. “He is a neighbor, a friend, and a face we could rely on.”
Another local, Matt Chisholm, credited Laubhan for his reporting for keeping him and his family safe from the deadly tornado in 2023.
“The sobering truth is this,” he wrote in his own Facebook post on Jan. 18. “[H]ad 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.”
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