Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Australian cameraman jumps into action to help Floridians flee Hurricane Ian’s fierce winds and rising waters

The hurricane made landfall on Wednesday and caused widespread flooding in various parts of Florida

Gino Spocchia
Thursday 29 September 2022 22:44 BST
Comments
Related video: Hurricane Ian batters Southwest Florida
Leer en Español

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

An Australian news cameraman has been widely praised for dropping his live recording and running to help a family who were struggling to evacuate their flooded home.

In an unexpected moment during a live broadcast for Australia’s Channel 7, a cameraman was seen dropping his camera and running into the floodwater to help a family on Wednesday.

“Keep going, keep going,” his colleague and presenter Tim Lester was heard saying. “This an enormous storm... we’re just helping some people through the water here. That’s our camera operator Glen Ellis out there”.

As another news anchor in the studio,  David Koch, asked if the pair were okay, Lester explained that Ellis was helping a family carry a small number of possessions and water through the water.

“I think you can see [him] trying to help people who are wading away from their homes,” said the presenter and US correspondent for Sunrise. “We’ve spoken to a couple of them and they tell us that already their houses hve been lost in the water, they’ve been flooded right through and theyve had to abandon them”.

The Sunrise team were reporting from Naples, which was heavily flooded following Hurricane Ian and had seen the destruction of its pier – amid other damage.

A Collier County county official said on Thursday that the Naples Pier, a top tourist destination, has been destroyed by Hurricane Ian and that “Right now, there is no pier,” the Associated Press reported.

Severe flooding was also seen in nearby Lee County, where Hurricane Ian came ashore as a near-Category 5 storm at Cayo Costa with wind speeds of 155mph and storm surges of several feet.

Thousands of people are believed to be awaiting rescue and 2.5 million are without power, officials have been reported saying.

Taking to social media after the on-camera rescue, Lester tweeted: “In forty years, never had a camera operator run away during a live cross. Spot on Glen. Good call.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in