Footage shows the moment a reporter was hit in the face while reporting outside on .
While reporting live from Bradenton, Florida on Wednesday night, anchor Anderson Cooper was pelted amid his coverage of the hurricane's fury. Battling the elements, Cooper said, "The water now is really starting to pour over," as he braved the conditions by the Manatee River. A projectile hit him square in the face mid-broadcast, causing him to recoil.
As the storm unleashed its wrath, St. Lucie County faced its first deaths attributable to Hurricane Milton while tornadoes ravaged communities. With a sense of urgency, Gov. Ron DeSantis advised those still in evacuation zones to leave immediately.
After being hit, Cooper pointed out, "Well, that wasn't good," and suggested the team should head indoors. Elsewhere in St Petersburg, fellow CNN correspondent Bill Weir was literally blown away from the camera during his live segment, reports .
At around 1 a. m. Thursday, as it swept past Lakeland, Florida, en route through the heart of the peninsula, the National Weather Service clocked the storm's peak sustained winds at a formidable 90 mph (145 kph). To determine how damaging a hurricane's winds could potentially be, the weather service refers to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
Hurricanes in Category 1 are recognised for their perilous gusts that uproot trees with shallow roots, break branches, and can cause structural damage to well-built homes, in addition to bringing down power lines.
Hurricane Milton, a Category 3 storm, hit land on Wednesday evening, causing expected devastating damage including uprooted trees, roofs torn from homes and leaving electricity and water systems unavailable for days to weeks. The hurricane also spawned several destructive tornadoes that caused chaos in Florida communities on Wednesday afternoon.
In addition to high wind speeds, heavy rainfall and storm surges led to dangerous flooding in some coastal areas. A crane at the site of a luxury high-rise building under construction in downtown St. Petersburg collapsed, although no injuries have been reported. The building, touted as one of the tallest on Florida's west coast, was due to be completed in summer 2025.
St. Petersburg Fire Rescue reported the crane collapse and roof damage at Tropicana Field as two critical incidents following Hurricane Milton's landfall south of the city.
The crane collapse occurred about six blocks from the city's pier. St. Petersburg is approximately 50 miles north of Siesta Key, where Milton made landfall.
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