A brave TV weatherman was caught on camera attempting to report from the heart of Hurricane Milton as the ferocious storm came ashore on Wednesday night.
Robert Ray, a correspondent for Fox Weather could be seen on camera, complete with bike helmet and eye goggles, barely able to stand upright as he was thrashed by 100mph winds and pelted by driving rain in Bradenton, Florida.
Ray is one of dozens of reporters out and about in the horrendous weather conditions attempting to give a sense to viewers of what the conditions are like as the storm swirls about them.
While many other networks had their reporters safely in hotels or sheltered by nearby buildings, Ray was truly out in the elements and completely exposed as he felt the full force of Milton.
Robert Ray, a correspondent for Fox Weather could be seen on camera, complete with bike helmet and eye goggles, barely able to stand upright
A sodden Ray was caught on camera attempting to report from the heart of Hurricane Milton as the ferocious storm came ashore on Wednesday night
Ray was introduced by the anchor, noting how he was going to demonstrate what ‘an extreme weather warning looks like’.
‘That is why I am standing here, and you know something this is an historic storm and this is part of the documentation will also hopefully show people to evacuate. You don’t want to be in this,’ warned a drenched Ray, shouting into the microphone as he struggled to be heard.
‘You don’t want to be in your home if it’s not structurally confident. We’re going to see a lot of those issues tomorrow, especially in mobile homes,’ Ray explained.
‘This is why we are showing the fury of Milton. The menacing fury of Milton, no doubt the toughest winds I’ve experienced this entire season and I hope this is the end.’
Viewers were treated to the disparity of the warmth and calm of the studio, left, whilst Ray was left battling the hurricane force winds in Florida
At one stage a waterlogged Ray was forced to crouch down onto the ground because the winds were so strong
Ray was wet through and found it difficult to look at the camera and even stand upright
Milton made landfall on Florida’s west coast on Wednesday night, striking a little sooner and further south than forecast.
The storm made landfall around 8:30pm as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120mph near Siesta Key, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Siesta Key is a barrier island town of some 4,500 off Sarasota about 60 miles south of the Tampa Bay metropolitan area, which is home to more than 3 million people.
Milton also spawned at least 19 tornadoes, causing damage in numerous counties, and destroyed around 125 homes, most of them mobile homes.
The Hurricane Center labeled it an ‘extremely dangerous’ storm capable of deadly storm surge, ferocious winds and flash flooding across Central Florida.
A soaked Ray said the weather conditions were the strongest he had experienced all season
A drenched Ray attempted to take cover but it was no use. There was no way to escape the driving wind and rain
A power transformer explodes, creating a light in the background, as Hurricane Milton makes landfall in Fort Myers, Florida
Wind-driven rain soaks a street in downtown Tampa, Florida as Hurricane Milton passes by
No fatalities had yet been reported, but people were warned against venturing outside.
‘At this point, it’s too dangerous to evacuate safely, so you have to shelter in place and just hunker down,’ DeSantis said upon announcing the landfall.
The storm was expected to cross the Florida peninsula overnight and emerge into the Atlantic, still with hurricane force, on Thursday.
Once past Florida, it should weaken over the western Atlantic, possibly dropping below hurricane strength on Thursday night, but will nonetheless pose storm-surge danger on the state’s Atlantic coast as well.