Hurricane Milton Strikes Florida: Reporters Face Harrowing Close Calls as Storm Makes Landfall

Fox Weather correspondent Robert Ray experienced the full impact of Hurricane Milton on Wednesday night, just before the storm made landfall. Milton struck Florida as a Category 3 storm near Siesta Key, less than 20 miles from Ray and his team’s location in west Bradenton.

A Close Call for Reporters

“We just had this entire tree snap and fall right on our vehicles,” Ray reported on Fox Weather. After finishing a live update on the Manatee River, he walked to his vehicle and looked at his phone when disaster struck.

“And then, all of a sudden, boom!” Ray recalled. “The whole tree just comes down and partially goes into the vehicle where [cameraman] Lloyd is.” He confirmed that it was “for sure a hurricane wind gust to take down a tree like that.”

Ray described a “bit of a chaotic moment” following the incident, where he asked if everyone was alright but “couldn’t hear a darn thing” due to the roaring winds. He expressed concern about the remaining part of the pine tree still standing, fearing it might also collapse.

Anderson Cooper Faces Danger Live on Air

In a similar incident, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper was struck by debris while reporting live from the same area near the Manatee River.

“It’s coming in from kind of the northeast. And, the water is really now just starting to pour over. If you look at the ground,” Cooper began before being hit.

“Okay, that wasn’t good. Um, we’ll probably go inside shortly,” he added, noting the abrupt change in his situation. It remains unclear what exactly struck Cooper, but it appeared to hit his head as he faced downward.