Dramatic footage showed Weather Channel meteorologist Jim Cantore struggling to stand and being struck by a tree branch while on-air covering Hurricane Ian in Florida.
Cantore was reporting live from an intersection in Punta Gorda, Florida Wednesday when he was nearly taken out by a tree branch as the Category 4 storm bore down on the state’s west coast.
The dramatic footage captured Cantore stumbling through heavy rains and 100 mph winds.
Cantore was seen placing his hands on the road, as he staggered toward a traffic signal.
“Give me a second,” he said, barely losing composure as he regained his footing.
“You just can’t stand up!”
Some viewers were impressed by Cantore’s professionalism.
“Glad he is ok!” one tweeted, while another praised Cantore as a “legend” and “so brave.”
Others, however, were less than impressed.
“Maybe like, get indoors,” said one commenter.
“That is why you don’t go outside in the middle of a hurricane,” another concurred.
Shortly after Cantore’s dramatic moment, his Weather Channel colleague Mike Seidel reported from a balcony in Fort Myers that Ian was “one of the worst hurricanes I have ever been in.”
“It may be the worst in terms of covering 25 years and 90 storms,” he said.
The Hurricane Ian coverage was far from Cantore’s first viral moment. In 2014, the veteran journalist made headlines when he casually kneed a would-be attacker in the groin mid-broadcast.
“Obviously, here…they are already having a good time,” he quipped at the time.
