Anderson Cooper was hit by a flying object in Hurricane Milton

CNN's Anderson Cooper was struck by an unknown object while covering Hurricane Milton in Bradenton, Florida.

Like several other networks, CNN deployed some of its talent to cover the storm outside, rains and heavy wind gusts be damned. The practice follows a long tradition of sending reporters into dangerous situations to report on one of nature's most powerful phenomena.

Shortly after Milton landed, Cooper performed a live hit just after 9 p.m. ET.

“The wind has really picked up,” he said. “The water is really moving. You can get a feel for how fast the wind is blowing there. You can see it there in the light. It's whipping off the Manatee River right now. It comes from the north, I guess northeast. And now the water is really starting to flow. If you look at the graph – whoa!”

It was at the “Woah” when Cooper was hit in the chest and face by a square object.

“Okay, that wasn’t good,” he informed viewers. “I'll probably go in soon. But you can see the amount of water here on the ground. This is water from the Manatee River. It’s also water that comes from the land.”

Cooper is far from the first reporter to be hit by an object while reporting in the middle of a storm. While covering Hurricane Ian in 2022, Jim Cantore The Weather Channel was hit by a tree branch. In 2018, a Houston reporter was struck by sheet metal while covering Hurricane Florence.

Watch above via CNN.

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