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CNN anchor Anderson Cooper was hit in the face with debris while reporting outdoors on Hurricane Milton in Florida as the massive storm made landfall.
The hurricane arrived in the state as a Category 3 storm early Wednesday night near Sarasota County’s Siesta Key, bringing destructive tornadoes, 28ft waves, strong winds, heavy rainfall and storm surge across multiple areas.
The National Weather Service generated 111 tornado warnings as the storm thrashed the state’s Gulf side, breaking a 2017 record.
Facing wind speeds of more than 150mph, Cooper in Bradenton, Florida, Wednesday night to report on unfolding carnage.
“The water now is really starting to pour over,” said an already drenched Cooper while speaking to the camera on a walkway beside the Manatee River.
Things didn’t get much better for the 57-year-old news veteran as seconds later, the elements propelled a white object right into his face, momentarily dazing him.
“Well, that wasn’t good,” he said. “We’ll probably go inside shortly.”
Things weren’t much better for Cooper’s colleague Bill Weir in St Petersburg, who was literally swept off of the screen during his report.
Although sending reporters out into dangerous storms isn’t uncommon, viewers still couldn’t help but be concerned for Cooper.
On X/Twitter, one person wrote: “What does putting Anderson Cooper on a pier in the middle of the ocean at the height of a hurricane in its centre achieve in informing viewers? It’s like 120mph winds. Get my sweet porcelain glass anchor inside.”
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Another said: “‘It’s important for everyone to stay inside’ the FEMA rep tells CNN while Anderson Cooper is fighting for his life in Florida in the split screen.”
A third added: “You know it’s serious when they send Anderson Cooper into the eye of the storm I thought he must have a clause in his contract that he doesn’t do this anymore.”
A fourth joked: “I like how CNN sees no problem with putting Anderson Cooper smack dab in the center of Hurricane Milton but somehow draw the line at letting him drink on New Year’s Eve.”
The CNN host wasn’t the only reporter putting themselves in harm’s way on Wednesday night.
Fox Weather correspondent Robert Ray felt the full force of Hurricane Milton shortly before the storm made landfall. “We just had this entire tree snap and fall right on our vehicles,” Ray said on Fox Weather.
The reporter had just finished a live report showing the Manatee River before he walked into his vehicle and looked at his phone.
“And then, all of a sudden, boom!” Ray recalled. “The whole tree just comes down and partially goes into the vehicle where [cameraman] Lloyd is.”
“For sure a hurricane wind gust to take down a tree like that,” he added.
After the tree fell, Ray said there was a “bit of a chaotic moment” when he asked if everyone was alright and he “couldn’t hear a darn thing” because of the roaring winds.
