Anderson Cooper drilled in face by flying debris during live on-air Hurricane Milton report: ‘That wasn’t good’
CNN host Anderson Cooper experienced the the storm’s wrath firsthand.
Cooper was drilled in the face with flying debris as he gave a live report in the midst of the powerful winds brought on by Hurricane Milton Wednesday night.
Cooper, posted near the Manatee River, attempted to explain how the storm impacted the water when he was met with Milton’s wrath, 30 minutes after the storm made landfall on Florida’s west-central coast.
“You could see it in the light there, (the wind) is just whipping off the Manatee River. It’s coming in from the northeast and the water is really starting to pour over,” Cooper said.
“Whoa, OK, that wasn’t good,” Cooper added after he was struck. “We’ll probably go inside shortly.”
The 57-year-old father of two later picked up the culprit, a rectangular piece of styrofoam that had blown from the river and directly into the reporter.
Cooper, known for his on-site coverage of hurricanes, took the incident in stride and continued his report on the water from the Manatee River rising above the riverbank and onto the walkway above.
In other portions of the live show, Cooper stood farther away from the water, but the rough waves managed to reach the reporter, knocking him around as he spoke to a colleague, video posted to X captured.
Cooper’s live coverage during the storm sparked concern over his well-being from worried viewers.
“He is fighting for his LIFE and I cannot look away,” one commenter wrote.
“CNN had better let Anderson Cooper blackout on New Year’s Eve for this,” another comment read, referencing Cooper’s annual “New Year’s Eve Live” show, which he has hosted since 2002.
Another reporter was also involved in a dangerous incident along the 36-mile-long riverbank Wednesday night.
Robert Ray, a correspondent for Fox Weather, had just wrapped up a live report 20 feet from the river when a giant pine tree fell onto the vehicles of him and his crew around 7:52 p.m.
“I had just gotten done with a live report, where I was showing the Manatee River, which is right beyond this tree, walked to my vehicle, looked at my phone,” Ray recalled, standing inside the fallen tree.
“All of a sudden, boom, the whole tree comes down and partially goes into the vehicle.”
Ray gave his entire weather spot as he stood inside the branches of the fallen tree.
Milton, which grew to a catastrophic Category 5 storm, made landfall as a Category 3 at 8:30 p.m.
It had weakened to a Category 1 storm, holding its classification as of 5 a.m. Thursday.
Winds from the storm caused problems throughout Florida, with deadly tornadoes spawning and structures being torn apart.
Multiple people were killed after more than a dozen powerful tornadoes associated with Hurricane Milton ripped through parts of Florida Wednesday, authorities said.
