A Weather Channel reporter covering the arrival of Hurricane Ian in Florida on Wednesday was hit by a flying tree branch and knocked to the ground during a live report.
Jim Cantore was delivering a live report from ground zero just as Ian was making landfall, struggling to remain upright as 61 MPH winds -- with 110 MPH gusts -- uprooted street signs and sent other debris flying through the air in the background.
Suddenly, Cantore was blown backward just as a large tree branch came sailing across the street, knocking the meteorologist flat on his back.
Apparently, Cantore made it through the incident unharmed. He returned a short time later with a hurricane update -- only this time he was reporting from the balcony of his hotel room. "We have come up here for safety from the surge," he told viewers. "Where we were earlier, it looks like there’s three or four feet of water. Waves crashing over the area from earlier this morning." He went on to say Ian is "one of the worst hurricanes I have ever been in."