A brave TV meteorologist was caught on camera trying to report from the heart of Hurricane Milton as the ferocious storm made landfall Wednesday night.
Fox Weather correspondent Robert Ray was seen on camera, wearing a bicycle helmet and goggles, barely able to stand as he was buffeted by 100 mph winds and lashed by torrential rain in Bradenton, Florida.
Ray is one of dozens of reporters out in the horrendous weather conditions trying to give viewers an idea of what conditions are like as the storm swirls around them.
While many other networks had their reporters safe in hotels or sheltered in nearby buildings, Ray was truly exposed to the elements and completely exposed as he felt the full force of Milton.
Fox Weather correspondent Robert Ray could be seen on camera, wearing a bicycle helmet and glasses, barely able to stand.
A soaked Ray was caught on camera attempting to report from the heart of Hurricane Milton as the ferocious storm made landfall Wednesday night.
The host introduced Ray and noted how he was going to demonstrate what “an extreme weather warning” looks like.
“That’s why I’m here, and you know something: It’s a historic storm and this is part of the documentation that will hopefully also show people how to evacuate.” You don’t want to be in this,’ Ray warned, soaking wet, shouting into the microphone as he struggled to be heard.
‘You don’t want to be in your house if it’s not structurally safe. We’ll see a lot of those problems tomorrow, especially in mobile homes,” Ray explained.
‘That’s why we’re showing Milton’s fury. The menacing fury of Milton, without a doubt the strongest winds I have experienced all this season and I hope this is the end.’
Viewers enjoyed the studio’s disparity of warmth and calm, while Ray was left battling hurricane-force winds in Florida.
At one point, a waterlogged Ray was forced to crouch on the ground because the winds were so strong.
Ray was wet and found it difficult to look at the camera or even stand up.
Milton made landfall on Florida’s west coast Wednesday night, a little earlier and farther south than expected.
The storm made landfall around 8:30 p.m. as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph near Siesta Key, the US National Hurricane Center said.
Siesta Key is an island city of about 4,500 people off Sarasota, about 60 miles south of the Tampa Bay metropolitan area, home to more than 3 million people.
Milton also spawned at least 19 tornadoes, which caused damage in numerous counties and destroyed about 125 homes, most of them mobile homes.
The Hurricane Center called it an “extremely dangerous” storm capable of causing deadly storm surge, ferocious winds and flash flooding throughout Central Florida.
A soaked Ray said the weather conditions were the strongest he had experienced all season.
A soaked Ray tried to take cover but it was useless. There was no way to escape the strong wind and rain.
A power transformer explodes, creating a backlight, as Hurricane Milton makes landfall in Fort Myers, Florida.
Wind-driven rain soaks a street in downtown Tampa, Florida, as Hurricane Milton passes.
No fatalities have been reported yet, but people were warned not to venture outside.
“At this point, it’s too dangerous to evacuate safely, so shelter in place and just hunker down,” DeSantis said in announcing the landing.
The storm was expected to cross the Florida peninsula overnight and emerge into the Atlantic, still at hurricane strength, on Thursday.
Once it passes Florida, it should weaken over the western Atlantic, possibly falling below hurricane strength Thursday night, but will still pose a storm surge danger along the state’s Atlantic coast.