A live cross on an Australian morning show has been interrupted as a cameraman ditched his kit in order to lend a hand to those trying to flee floodwaters in the US as Hurricane Ian batters Florida's coast.
Sunrise crossed live to Channel 7's US correspondent, Tim Lester, who was reporting from the Florida city of Naples on the Gulf of Mexico early Thursday morning (September 29).
In a dramatic moment that was beamed out to audiences across Australia, Channel Seven cameraman Glen Ellis abandoned his post to help a group of locals struggling to wade through rising floodwaters.
"Keep going, keep going,'' Lester told Sunrise host David Koch, who then asked if the crew were okay.
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"It's an enormous storm, yes, we're fine," Lester replied.
"We are just helping some people through the water here, that is our camera operator, Glen, out there. I think you can see he is trying to help people who are moving away from their homes."
While the Aussie reporter continued with his broadcast, Ellis could be seen helping those battling through the storm's path to flee from rising waters.
One person could be seen holding the hand of a child while struggling to carry their belongings through the rising water.
Lester continued: "We have spoken to a couple of them and they tell us already that their houses have been lost in the water, they have flooded right through and they have had to abandon them."
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The Channel 7 reporter explained that they were able to find high enough ground for their live cross as weather conditions continue to worsen.
Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida on Wednesday (September 28) as a powerful Category 4 storm with winds were around 241 kilometres per hour as it hit the coast.
The hurricane was only a few kilometres per hour under being classed as a Category Five storm; the highest on the hurricane disaster scale.
NBC reports that the National Hurricane Centre has warned of 'life-threatening storm surge, catastrophic winds and flooding in the Florida Peninsula' with millions under evacuation orders.
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned citizens in an evening address that the worst may be yet to come.
"This storm is doing a number on the state of Florida," the governor said, as per Reuters.
He added that citizens can expect the storm to move through the state on Wednesday and for 'much of tomorrow'.
Rachel Lang