Is it time for Anderson Cooper and other reporters to come in from the hurricanes?

When Anderson Cooper got bonked by flying debris while standing outside in the violent winds and downpour of Hurricane Milton in Florida Wednesday night, it illustrated the potential danger ofsuch on-the-scene storm reporting that has become a journalistictradition.

Cooper, whowas uninjured by the debris, was one of just many reportersbraving the elements to coverthe hurricane. But that debris incident, and reporting by the CNN journalistand others who venture out in such extreme weather conditionsdid raise questions about whether such risks are necessary.

Many on social media reposteda video of Cooper being hit by the debris. Butashurricane-forcewinds whippedaround him, some questioned the need for him to bereporting livefrom Bradenton, Fla., about 35 kilometres north of Siesta Key, where Milton made landfall that evening.

"Does CNN think we won't believe it's a bad storm unless they put Anderson Cooper outside?" askedElizabeth C. Tyler on X, formerly known as Twitter.

And the professionals are inclined to agree.

"I've seen two-by-fours shot through the walls of buildings in these storms,"said TracyKijewski-Correa,a professor of engineering at the University of Notre Dame and an expert on disaster risk reduction andcivil infrastructure. "That could be Anderson's body.

At least eightpeople are dead afterMilton smashed through Florida, causing significant damage and leaving millions without power.

'We gotta go! We gotta go!'

Over atNBC,viewers watched Wednesday as anchor Tom Llamaswas forced to flee and take coverasthe eye of the storm passed over.

"The situation here in Sarasota is starting to turn dire," Llamas reported. "At first we hadOh, we're going to go. We gotta go! We gotta go! We gotta go!"

While recounting the incident later, Llamassaid his crew was facinghurricane force winds of160 km/h. The gusts were sostrongthat they couldn't determine thewindstrength because he said the gauges they were reading had broken.

Some journalists have defended this kind of reporting as the bestway to explain to viewers the dangers a particular storm may pose.

"It is important to show it in factual and vivid terms so people understand just what they are up against,"Dan Shelley,head ofthe Radio Television Digital News Association, told the Washington Post in 2022.

WATCH | Hurricane Milton batters Florida, leaves millions without power:

Hurricane Milton leaves path of destruction across Florida

6 days ago

Duration 8:02

Search and recovery efforts are underway after Hurricane Milton slammed into Florida's Gulf Coast with fierce winds, torrential rain and tornadoes.

NoraZimmett,the president of news and original series for TheWeather Group, which ownsThe Weather Channel,has saidhaving meteorologists broadcastlive from the field is critical to the channel's mission of giving peopleinformation they needto stay safe.

"It is very hard to do that when you're showing a static shot that has no context of how conditions of wind and water can affect a human being," she told the New York Timesin 2022.

"Without the context of a human being in the elements, I can tell you, people still don't understand why they're being told to leave."

'No one should be outside at that point'

ButKijewski-Correasaysthat whenwinds reach a certain speed,debris can startto move so quickly thatit poses areal risk of impalement.

To encapsulate just how dangerous conditions can be for reporters, she said emergency crewswon't respond to 911 calls ifwinds areover 80 km/h.

"If that is when first responders stop leaving their buildings of safety to go help citizens, then that would be a strong indicator that no one should be outsideat that point."

Jana Houser, a self-described storm chaser and associate professor of meteorology, atmospheric sciences program atThe Ohio State University, saysthere's really no reasonfor reporters to be outside like that during a storm.

"You don't know when the building of the roof next doormay come loose and take you out," she said. "There's areal threat of harm to a journalist who's out there covering a storm like that."

"I don't think it's necessarily responsible to get as close as you can possibly get to a location where landfall is occurring," said Houser, adding thateven storm chasers aren't always able to know what may happen, especially when it comes to things like debris, power poles blowing over, tree branches coming loose and roofs coming off houses.

"All these things are projectiles that can potentially cause harm to somebody nearby," she said.

Meanwhile, reporters coveringsuch storms have faced close calls, injuries anddeath.

In 2022, Weather Channel reporter and meteorologistJim Cantore was struck by a fallen treebranch while reporting in Punta Gorda, Fla., during Hurricane Ian.

Fouryears earlier, two reporters were crushed to deathby a falling tree in North Carolina while covering astorm named Alberto.

Seeing reporters taking shelter more helpful

Kijewski-Correasays thatinstead of reporters going outside to do live hits during the storm,streamingweather cameras installed throughout a particular region could be used to let people know just how bad the weather is getting.

Someone like Anderson Cooper, she says, would be a more powerful voice if he were to be shownretreating from a storm and taking shelter.

WATCH | The impact of this meteorologist who became emotionaltalking about Milton:

Hurricane Milton highlights need for climate action, says meteorologist whose emotional clip went viral

6 days ago

Duration 9:55

A clip that features Florida meteorologist John Morales becoming emotional while discussing Hurricane Milton has gone viral. Morales says a majority of Americans know climate change is causing extreme weather and more eyes are being opened by events like Milton, which has caused at least five deaths and knocked out power to more than three million homes and businesses in Florida.

"And [explaining]why he's there and then showing thelive feed and [him]saying 'because I don't want to be here and nor should you,' "Kijewski-Correasaid.

"I feel like we should be modelling the behaviour we want to see rather than the sensationalism of the moment."