A team of local meteorologists have been celebrated for potentially saving lives in Alabama ahead of a major tornado.

Josh Johnson, the chief meteorologist at WSFA-TV, anchored a live news segment on Sunday night along with the outlet’s team of meteorologists, including Eric Snitil, Amanda Curran and Lee Southwick.

The team decided preemptively to warn audiences of the tornado, Mr Johnson wrote in a statement to Washington Post after a video clip of the segment went viral.

The clip shows the meteorologists calmly warning Alabama residents their lives were in danger.

“I’ll tell you what, your life may be in danger,” Mr Johnson says during the broadcast. “Rather, your life IS in danger.”

Tornado tears through Alabama killing 23 Show all 15 1 /15 Tornado tears through Alabama killing 23 Tornado tears through Alabama killing 23 Tornado in Dothan, Alabama on March 3 AFP/Getty Tornado tears through Alabama killing 23 Debris and a damaged house following a tornado in Beauregard, Alabama on March 3 Scott Fillmer/Reuters Tornado tears through Alabama killing 23 People walk amid debris in Lee County, Alabama AP Tornado tears through Alabama killing 23 Damage in Lee County, Alabama AP Tornado tears through Alabama killing 23 A funnel shaped cloud on the I-10 near Marianna, Florida on March 3. Tornado warnings have been issued across the southeast of the US AP Tornado tears through Alabama killing 23 House debris following a tornado in Beauregard, Alabama on March 3 Scott Fillmer/Reuters Tornado tears through Alabama killing 23 A tornado in the distance at Warner Robins, Georgia on March 3 @KEITH_IRWIN/Reuters Tornado tears through Alabama killing 23 A fallen pylon lies across Route 280 in Lee County, Alabama AP Tornado tears through Alabama killing 23 Fallen trees lie across a road following a tornado in Beauregard, Alabama on March 3 Scott Fillmer/Reuters Tornado tears through Alabama killing 23 Damaged trees seen following a tornado in Beauregard, Alabama on March 3 Scott Fillmer/Reuters Tornado tears through Alabama killing 23 People look on at clean-up efforts following a tornado in Beauregard, Alabama on March 3 Scott Fillmer/Reuters Tornado tears through Alabama killing 23 People clear fallen trees and debris from a road following a tornado in Beauregard, Alabama on March 3 Scott Fillmer/Reuters Tornado tears through Alabama killing 23 Fallen trees following a tornado in Beauregard, Alabama on March 3 Scott Fillmer/Reuters Tornado tears through Alabama killing 23 Tornado in Dothan, Alabama on March 3 AFP/Getty Tornado tears through Alabama killing 23 Emergency responders work in the scene amid debris in Lee County, Alabama AP

In his statement to the Post, the meteorologist said he knew “people were not going to survive this tornado.”

“That is a terrible, terrible feeling,” he wrote. “But, it was important to compartmentalize my emotions so that I could invest one hundred percent of my mental and emotional effort into communicating the danger the tornado presented.”

He added, “My role, and the role of my team, was to minimise that death toll to the best of our ability.”

Other meteorologists across the country have shared the clip online, celebrating the team’s calm, albeit informative segment on the major destruction that was headed towards the region.

“I can only imagine how many lives were saved by Josh, Lee, and Eric,” Paul Gross, a local meteorologist in Detroit, wrote to the Post.

He added, “This is the moment that all broadcast meteorologists hope they never face, but learn and train their entire careers to excel at.”

Meanwhile, Donald Trump is headed to Alabama today to meet with residents and survey the damage.

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