CNN's Anderson Cooper was caught on camera getting 'smacked in the face by debris' while live reporting on Hurricane Milton.
Yesterday (October 9), Hurricane Milton made landfall measuring as a category three storm on the Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale, bringing tornadoes and 28ft waves.
And live reporting out in the open in Siesta Key, Florida was CNN anchor Anderson Cooper who battled 120 mph winds during the broadcast.
Videos shared to social media show the reporter out battling the elements to report on the storm, Cooper absolutely drenched and being hit by rain and waves from pretty much all sides.
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One clip shows the moment he gets hit in the face by a piece of flying debris.
Briefly acknowledging the incident, Cooper said: "Woah! That wasn’t good. We’ll probably go inside shortly."
However, he then swiftly carries on.
And it's not taken long for people to flood to Twitter to weigh in.
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One Twitter user said: "What does putting Anderson Cooper on a pier in the middle of the ocean at the height of a hurricane in its center achieve in informing viewers. It’s like 120mph winds. Get my sweet porcelain glass anchor inside."
"Someone rescue Anderson Cooper from CNN. #HurricaneMilton," another added.
A third questioned: "Why is Anderson Cooper out in Milton trying to be Jim Cantore, and why did he get smacked in the face by debris?"
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"The moment Anderson Cooper gets hit by flying debris in Bradenton, FL. WTF," a fourth wrote.
However, one user added: "I’ve been informed by multiple people he is a vet in live storm coverage especially for Katrina, so I looked into it and yeaa imma just shut up real quick."
UNILAD has contacted CNN for comment.
And it wasn't just Cooper who ended up being the only reporter to feel the wrath of the storm.
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Another CNN reporter Bill Weir ended up losing his hat to the hurricane and The Weather Channel meteorologist Jim Cantore was forced to take shelter from the storm.
While Hurricane Milton has since weakened to a category one on the scale, it is still set to be 'one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida,' the National Hurricane Center reports.
What's more, experts have even questioned whether there should be a category six or new scale to measure storms given Hurricane Milton reaching the top end of the Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale.
Topics: US News, Weather, Florida, Social Media, Twitter