Anderson Cooper hit by debris, explosion sends NBC running during Milton live shots

CNN’s Anderson Cooper and NBC’s Tom Llamas both experienced first hand just how powerful Hurricane Milton was during live hits Oct. 9, 2024.

Cooper was reporting from near the Manatee River in Bradenton, Florida, at around 9:04 p.m. eastern when a large piece of debris struck him in the face. 

“OK, that wasn’t good,” Cooper said after. “Um, we’ll probably go inside shortly,” he added.

The hit continued briefly after that before switching to Brian Todd in Tampa. The network then returned to Cooper for another hit, where he picked up a piece of what he described as foam debris and then, apparently wanting to prevent another direct hit, told viewers he was placing it behind a tree.

The segment continued, sometimes split-screening with other live feeds, until around 9:12 p.m., when the feed froze.

Anchor Kaitlan Collins took over after a moment and tossed to an in-studio forecast segment, noting that the weather conditions can make broadcasting difficult. She also clarified that Cooper was not injured. 

Cooper later returned but from a fallback location.

Meanwhile, NBC’s Llamas was live on the ground for NBC News Now in Sarasota, Florida, around 9:22 p.m. when what appeared to be a transformer exploded behind him just as the network returned from a break.

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“We gotta go!” Llamas could be heard yelling. 

He tossed back to anchor Gadi Schwartz but the network continued to use the live feed from the Llamas’ camera. Viewers could see the entire crew moving away from the scene of the mishap to a safer location. 

Llamas later posted on social media that no one was hurt in the incident.