News anchors subject themselves to harmful situations while reporting live on breaking stories, particularly during major storms.
One such intrepid reporter was CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper, who put himself in harm's way and felt the consequences during Wednesday's live broadcast in Bradenton, Florida after Hurricane Milton made landfall.
A flying object struck Cooper in the face while he was reporting the intense Category 3 hurricane ravaging the barrier coastline of Siesta Key near Sarasota, Florida.
"Whoa!" Cooper shouted after being smacked by debris.
Immediately after, he commented, “OK, that wasn’t good," before continuing, seemingly without injury.
“We’ll probably go inside shortly,” he said, adding:
“But you can see the amount of water here on the ground. This is water from the Manatee River. It’s also water coming from the land as well.”
You can watch a clip here.
Viewers who watched the broadcast were left wondering if Cooper was okay.
On Instagram, CNN's Kaitlan Collins confirmed for anyone watching who was concerned about any of their anchors on the ground that "Anderson is okay.
She added that it was "difficult to establish a connection when you're seeing what's happening with the wind and the rain and obviously the deteriorating conditions by the minute."
Fans were relieved to hear their favorite news anchor was fine.
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The comments kept flooding in on X (formerly Twitter).
Over 3 million Florida residents experienced power outages as Hurricane Milton battered its way across the Sunshine State and there have been, as of this writing, four known deaths.
Floridians were also still recovering from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene, which killed over 230 people less than two weeks ago.
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