Dramatic moment Sunrise camera operator drops his equipment to help rescue Florida residents fleeing deadly hurricane
- Hurricane Ian has made landfall, causing havoc in Florida in south-east US
- Channel 7 correspondent was doing live cross when cameraman stopped filming
- Glen Ellis rushed to aid of several residents fleeing rising waters with belongings
An Australian cameraman has stopped filming in the middle of a live cross to help rescue people trying to flee rising waters during one of the worst storms on record.
Hurricane Ian has made landfall and smashed the US state of Florida overnight, leaving millions without power and destroying hundreds of homes.
Reaching ‘catastrophic’ winds of up to 240km/h, it’s one of the largest hurricanes on record and has been described by authorities as ‘life threatening’ after it earlier caused fatalities in Cuba.
Sunrise crossed live to Channel Seven US correspondent Tim Lester in the city of Naples on the Gulf of Mexico in south-west Florida early Thursday morning.
As Lester described the harrowing conditions, his cameraman Glen Ellis abruptly stopped filming and rushed to the aid of people struggling to wade through the rising floodwaters.
One was holding the hand of a child while carrying belongings.
‘Keep going, keep going,’ Lester tells him.
Glen Ellis (right) helped several hurricane victims carry their possessions to higher ground as Hurricane Ian hits Naples in south-west Florida
Sunrise host David Koch asks if they’re okay.
‘It’s an enormous storm, yes we’re fine,’ Lester continues.
‘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.’
As Lester continues reporting, Ellis is seen helping more hurricane victims carry their belongings away from the rising waters.
‘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,’ Lester explained.
‘They just have no other way of doing it. But they are trying to get out and obviously what we have here, is a relatively high ground, so we are lucky enough to be able to talk to you.’
Channel Seven cameraman Glen Ellis stopped filming during a Sunrise live cross to race out to help residents fleeing rising waters
Hurricane Ian has been described by authorities as one of the worst storms on record. Pictured is the damage in Fort Myers, Florida
Locals are reporting that hundreds are stranded on their rooftops, with the population of the town being made up mostly of elderly residents.
More than 1.3 million citizens are without power with the damage bill tipped to exceed $45billion.
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, adding that citizens to expect the storm to move through the state today and ‘much of tomorrow,’ he said.
He urged residents who decided to brave the storm to stay in their properties or emergency bunkers while the hurricane blasted the coastline at close to Category five strength.
It comes just days after Cuba was tormented by the vicious hurricane, which left millions of dollars of damage and at least two people dead.
Hurricane Ian is forecast to remain at hurricane strength for the next 24 hours as it sweeps across Florida.
‘Right now we’re expecting it to eventually weaken below hurricane strength sometime overnight tonight or early Thursday morning,’ National Hurricane Centre’s Michael Brennan told CNN.
‘It’s going to take some time for that circulation to spin down.’
Hurricane Ian has made landfall in Florida on the US west coast. Pictured is a trail of destruction in Fort Myers, Florida
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