Shortly after veteran Channel 4 news anchor Tom Wills arrived at work Thursday, a producer shared a devastating bulletin on the approaching Hurricane Matthew.
“If a direct landfall occurs, this will be unlike any hurricane in modern era,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
Wills asked the producer to email him the bulletin so he could forward it to his wife, Gina, who was planning to ride out the storm at the couple’s Mandarin home.
News director Kathryn Bonfield had seen the update, as well.
She immediately knew Wills needed to share it with viewers who had been watching him for 41 years. People with whom he had a strong relationship built on trust.
For days, public officials had been warning Northeast Florida residents about the hurricane’s potentially devastating impacts. Imploring everyone to take precautions, ordering thousands to evacuate.
Bonfield wanted that extra voice — Wills’ voice — to also relay the message.
“I thought the situation had gotten to a point where Tom Wills could appeal to our viewers in the way that only Tom Wills can do it,” she said Monday.
Wills understood what Bonfield wanted; it made sense to him.
“I never hesitated for a second,” he said.
What followed was an impassioned plea from Wills to the viewers, one that went viral around the country.
Battling emotions delivering message
“I want to talk to you people for just a minute,” Wills began. “Not as Tom the newsman.”
And then his voice caught, just a few seconds into his plea.
His longtime co-anchor, Mary Baer didn’t know beforehand what Wills was planning. But, instinctively she wanted to comfort him.
She reached over and lightly patted his arm four times, the last one lingering a bit.
“I guess it was my natural way of saying, ‘We’re both here and all in it together,’” Baer said Monday.
Wills was able to continue.
“We’ve been together for 40 years, you and I,” he said to viewers. “It’s time to take precautions. It’s time to protect yourself.”
He warned people that the storm, as forecast at that point, would be like nothing the area had ever seen. Think Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Hugo.
“We’re in for a terrible, terrible experience,” Wills said.
He then began reading the statement from NOAA from his cellphone.
Catastrophic damage was anticipated for coastal areas.
“Catastrophic damage,” he repeated, as he looked into the camera.
Forget about Category 2 Hurricane Dora in 1964, the last time Northeast Florida took a direct hit.
A major hurricane, he said, as his voice caught again, hadn’t impacted this area for 118 years.
Not since an Oct. 2, 1898, Category 4 storm brought 135-mph winds and a 16-foot storm surge when it made landfall in Southeast Georgia.
Winds here could be Category 4 or Category 5 strength, the lowest barrier islands could be completely overtopped with battering waves and it was possible new inlets could be cut in the worst affected areas, Wills warned, as his voice caught a third time.
Please, he told viewers, do what’s necessary to protect their families. Err on the side of caution.
“If you’re in one of those evacuation zones, go west, go north. Get out of here,” he said.
A moment to be proud of for years
Wills wouldn’t find out for a while what impact his statement made, but General Manager Bob Ellis felt it immediately.
As Wills began his plea, Ellis said, the newsroom went silent. People in other departments halted what they were doing.
There was no noise, he said. The entire building stopped.
“It was as genuine a moment as you’re ever going to see,” Ellis said.
Bonfield thinks viewers also stopped what they were doing and absorbed the message.
“I think they just listened and took it all in and it made a difference,” she said. “I knew Tom Wills could make a difference.”
Later, through emails and social media, the impact became clear.
“Lots and lots and lots of people evacuated because of what he said,” Ellis added. “It was a moment that this television station will be proud of for years to come.”
Baer said friends and family out West have contacted her about the video.
“My sister emailed me and went on and on about how incredible Tom is,” she said.
She said as she sat next to Wills during his plea, it drove home for her how serious Hurricane Matthew could have been.
“I started kind of envisioning how deadly and life-changing it could be,” she said. “It really made my stomach do a flip.”
Looking back, Baer said she’s glad she didn’t know what Wills was planning. It made the moment much more spontaneous and impactful.
Wills appreciates the people who have thanked him the last few days, including many who acknowledged they evacuated because of what he said and how he said it.
That includes friends of his who originally were on the fence about leaving, despite pleas from their daughter.
Wills received a photo from them Friday showing they were safely enjoying the blue skies, aqua water and white sand from Fort Walton Beach.
Because of him.
@editormarilyn
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