Al Roker apologizes for posting smiling selfie amid South Carolina flooding

COLUMBIA, S.C., Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Al Roker apologized for posting on Twitter a smiling selfie with his colleagues in front of a flooded and destroyed South Carolina road.

Roker said he got caught up in a moment of camaraderie and became unaware of his surroundings.

The veteran weather man issued two tweets stating "Absolutely correct. I apologize for being insensitive. The woman in that car got out without injury. We should not have been in the picture" and "We came down to report and I offended those who lost so much. I am sorry."

Rocker, who is a journalist on NBC, received major backlash on social media after posting the photo on Sunday. The photo was captioned "My crew and I getting ready to report on East Coast flooding from S. Carolina on @NBCNightlyNews with Kate Snow.

Twitter users quickly denigrated the post . Followers such as Chuck Crumpler said "Al, your photo is [in] extremely poor taste. We are devastated and you're smiling. Shame on you.

Others such as Casual Observer said "Leave it to Al Roker to show up to a natural disaster where people have died/lost their homes/ect and take a smiling selfie."

Despite the backlash, there were Twitter users who did sympathize with the weatherman and thanked him for shedding light on the natural disaster. Priscilla Mckenzie said "people need to chill!I don't think you were being insensitive. People are just too touchy nowadays!!" while Brittnay Marie said "We do appreciate you being here, bringing attention to this dreadful weather/disaster.Y'all be safe out there."