Hurricane Milton swept through Florida on Thursday October 10, with the death toll standing over 10 and the storm causing widespread destruction across the state including leaving more than three million homes and businesses left without power.
But while residents were asked to evacuate, journalists and morning network meteorologists flew into the eye of the storm to serve as a proxy for viewers to find out exactly what was happening in the area, with Dylan Dreyer, David Muir, Ginger Zee and Anderson Cooper all arriving in Florida the last few days.
© InstagramGinger, the meteorologist for ABC and Good Morning America was due to fly into Georgia to view the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, but when Milton was upgraded to a hurricane four days before landfall, she was diverted to Florida.
"Milton now a hurricane —Florida 10-6: Sunday afternoon update on Milton. Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Naples, Sarasota, Tampa Bay. Watch #Milton carefully. Wednesday looks like the landfall of a major hurricane. Please ask questions I’ll answer," she captioned the post before spending the rest of the week keeping followers updated as well as sharing educational graphics that offered insight into what the difference in categories and terms mean.
"After Sandy, I realized that if people had never seen the power of Storm Surge they couldn’t understand it. So we made this graphic and then unfortunately I saw this come to life from Michael to Ian and others. I hope this can help emphasize to people, what Storm Surge really is," she said in another video.
Ginger also continued to update fans in the comments, reminding many that journalists remain in safe spaces and are not staying in the evacuation zones; the different networks often stay in the same hotels.
ABC News also shared videos from Ginger and her crew, with one revealing how the flood waters had made it so that she could not "stand where I was before, the surge has come up".
ABC World News Tonight's Whit Johnson has also been on the ground, keeping followers and viewers updated.In one video he gave a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the different crews preparing to go live for the networks in a parking garage, with the rain heavily falling outside of the structure, the noise forcing Whit to shout into the camera.
© InstagramHis colleague David Muir was also on the ground, and he reported from inside the parking garage as well, telling West Coast viewers that they had moved inside because of the strength of the rain, also revealing that they were reporting at least 30 tornadoes had hit the land.
CNN's Anderson Cooper was also in the area, reporting from Bradenton, Florida, after Hurricane Milton made landfall.
One video of his went viral early on October 10 as he was hit in the face by flying debris as he reported live for CNN. As he lent over to look at the water he was hit by a white object that flew by; "Woah. That wasn't good," he confessed before agreeing it may be time to head inside.
Back in the studios, Kaitlan Collins addressed the situation telling viewers that "Anderson is okay".
Dylan Dreyer from The Today Show, meanwhile, shared his deceiving a hurricane can be, as stood "in the eye of the hurricane".
"There is not the slightest breeze, there is not a drop of rain.. This is as calm as it can possibly get..... But in 20 minutes, the backside of the storm is coming in and the winds will be back up to 100mph," she shared.
CBS Mornings' Thomas Hanson also revealed a devastating video from Daytona, as he stood in feet of water on a residential street, which showcased how homes were going to be irrevocably damaged.
