WASHINGTON — CNN anchor Anderson Cooper got hit in the face with what appeared to be storm debris while reporting about Hurricane Milton.
Cooper was live on CNN Wednesday night in Bradenton, Florida, showing viewers what the storm surge looked like when an object came flying into the frame and smacked him.
"Wow! Okay, that wasn't good. We'll probably go inside shortly," Cooper said.
He later picked up the object, which he said was "thankfully" just Styrofoam that had come in from the river.
"We're starting to see stuff that's in the river itself ripping up and getting airborne," Cooper described.
A bit after his live shot, the network assured viewers that Anderson was okay.
Hurricane Milton made landfall late Wednesday as a Category 3 storm in Siesta Key, about 70 miles south of Tampa, and about 20 miles south of where Cooper was reporting.
CNN shared a video Thursday morning that showed some of their coverage throughout the night, including the moment Cooper got hit. Him and his crew later on moved to a fall back location a little further away from the water.
While Cooper is more recently known as the host of "AC 360" and as a "60 Minutes" correspondent, he's no stranger to reporting from the frontlines and danger zones. He previously worked as a war correspondent, reporting in Afghanistan and other areas.
The storm knocked out power to more than 3 million customers and whipped up a barrage of tornadoes. Milton caused at least four deaths and compounded the misery wrought by Helene while sparing Tampa a direct hit.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.