CNN Anchor Anderson Cooper Gets Struck in the Head by Debris During Hurricane Milton Coverage

Anderson Cooper attends the Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront in New York City on May 15, 2024. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Discovery

CNN anchor Anderson Cooper was covering Hurricane Milton as it landed in Florida on Wednesday when he was struck by debris during his broadcast.

The 57-year-old, reporting live from Bradenton, Florida, was on a walkway explaining how the rapid hurricane winds were thrusting water from the Manatee River onto land when a large white object flew into the frame, hitting him.

“[The wind] is now just whipping off the Manatee River. It is coming in from the north, I guess, northeast, and the water now is really starting to pour over,” Cooper told his viewers while soaked in water from the storm. “If you look at the ground–whoa!” he said as he was hit by the object.

The news veteran stumbled slightly before pressing on. “That wasn’t good. We’ll probably go inside shortly,” he noted before drawing attention to the water spilling onto the ground.

Later in the broadcast, Cooper picks up the object that struck him. “This came from the river, thankfully it’s just styrofoam,” he says before putting it back down behind a tree. “That’s just one of the things. We’re starting to see stuff that’s in the river itself ripping up and then getting airborne.”

Responding to the circumstance, fellow CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins assured the audience that Cooper was in good condition.

“I do want to note for everyone watching who is very concerned obviously about all of our correspondents and anchors on the ground, Anderson is OK,” Collins reported.

“Just obviously understandably 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.”

Hurricane Milton, once classified as a Category 5, made landfall along Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm before weakening to a Category 1, with 90 mph winds, as it traveled across the Sunshine State. As of Thursday evening, more than 100 homes were destroyed by the surge, and 2.7 million homes and businesses were left without power.

“Extremely dangerous category 3 Hurricane Milton makes landfall near Siesta Key Florida,” the National Hurricane Center wrote on Wednesday. “Life-threatening storm surge, extreme winds, and flash flooding occurring over the central Florida Peninsula.”

Over the weekend, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for most of Florida’s counties as Hurricane Milton headed toward the state.

“The storm was significant, but thankfully, this was not the worst-case scenario,” the governor said at a briefing on Thursday, noting the storm’s weakened state before landfall and that the surge “as initially reported has not been as significant overall as what was observed for Hurricane Helene.”

Later in the briefing, DeSantis warned Florida residents to “be cautious of hazards” as people begin to clean up following the storm.

“We have post-storm fatalities, almost every storm, and a lot of these fatalities are avoidable,” he said. “Please be cautious of down power lines, don’t touch them. Don’t remove tree debris that may be entangled with down power lines.

“Standing water can conceal down power lines, and other hazards, so please be mindful. And never walk through storm waters.”

DeSantis said that storm waters can carry infectious bacteria.

“I think everyone responded very quickly. I’m proud of everybody’s hard work. We got more work to do, but we will absolutely get through this,” he said.