Hurricane Milton made landfall Wednesday night, and while the powerful storm battered Florida’s Gulf Coast, CNN’s Anderson Cooper found himself in the midst of the action—literally. Reporting live from the Manatee River, Cooper was struck by flying debris while delivering his coverage of the hurricane’s impact, showcasing once again the dangers faced by journalists reporting in extreme conditions.
The 57-year-old CNN anchor, known for his on-the-ground hurricane reports, was explaining how the storm was affecting the water levels of the Manatee River when disaster struck. As Milton’s winds whipped through the area, Cooper was unexpectedly hit in the face by a piece of styrofoam that had blown from the river. Ever the professional, Cooper took it in stride, calmly picking up the debris and continuing his report, saying, “Whoa, OK, that wasn’t good. We’ll probably go inside shortly.”
Cooper’s composed reaction under pressure serves as a testament to his experience, but it also highlights the real and immediate dangers that reporters face when covering severe weather events. Milton, which briefly intensified into a catastrophic Category 5 storm, had downgraded to a Category 3 by the time it made landfall around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. However, even as a Category 3, the storm still unleashed deadly winds, severe flooding, and spawned over a dozen tornadoes, causing widespread destruction across Florida.
Cooper’s moment wasn’t the only harrowing incident of the night. Fox Weather correspondent Robert Ray also found himself in the midst of chaos when a massive pine tree fell onto his crew’s vehicles just 20 feet from the Manatee River. Ray had just finished a live report when the tree came crashing down, partially landing on his vehicle. Remarkably, Ray continued his broadcast from inside the fallen branches, demonstrating the commitment and resolve that both he and Cooper share as reporters.
While reporters like Cooper and Ray captured the chaos on the ground, the storm’s wrath was felt far beyond the Manatee River. Milton’s high winds tore through Florida, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. Tornadoes spawned by the storm killed multiple people, while gusts as high as 91 mph ripped the roof off Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, home to the Tampa Bay Rays. A crane working on a high-rise in downtown St. Petersburg also collapsed, with part of it crashing into the building that houses the offices of the *Tampa Bay Times*.
As the storm raged on, viewers at home watched with concern for those reporting in the eye of the storm. Comments flooded social media, with one user on X (formerly Twitter) exclaiming, “He is fighting for his LIFE and I cannot look away!” Another quipped, “CNN had better let Anderson Cooper blackout on New Year’s Eve for this,” referencing Cooper’s annual New Year’s Eve show.
Despite the lighthearted commentary online, the situation in Florida remains dire as the state continues to grapple with the devastation left by Hurricane Milton. While the storm weakened to a Category 1 by Thursday morning, the damage has already been done. With lives lost and communities upended, Floridians are once again reminded of the relentless power of nature—and the reporters like Anderson Cooper who bring these stories to the world, even in the face of danger.
