Here’s How the Networks Are Covering Hurricane Ian

By A.J. Katz 

Hurricane season isn’t over just yet. Just days after Hurricane Fiona made landfall in Puerto Rico, Hurricane Ian is now headed towards the west coast of the Florida peninsula. According to the National Hurricane Center, Ian is “expected to cause catastrophic storm surge, winds, and flooding starting later today.”

The eye of Ian was originally expected to make contact with Tampa Bay, however, its route has moved south. As of 11 a.m. ET time on Wednesday, Ian is only 45 miles northwest of Naples, Fla., in the southwest part of the state, and 50 miles southwest of Punta Gorda. Maximum winds are currently 155 mph, making this a category 4, and dangerously close to a 5, with a movement speed of only 9 miles per hour.

With a hurricane as slow-moving and severe as this one, TV news outlets have predictably dispatched correspondents (and more than one evening news anchor) to the scene. Here’s a breakdown of who is where. Of course, locations are subject to change and we’ll update this post as additional info trickles in.

Advertisement

ABC:

  • Chief meteorologist Ginger Zee, senior meteorologist Rob Marciano, transportation correspondent Gio Benitez and correspondents Victor Oquendo, Janai Norman and Trevor Ault.
  • World News Tonight anchor David Muir will lead special reports on ABC from New York.
  • ABC News Live will have wall-to-wall coverage, with Benitez leading anchored coverage in Tampa. The network’s 24-hour streaming news channel will have live updates and reporting from team of correspondents up and down the state of Florida.
  • ABC News Digital will also provide up-to-the-minute updates, with a live blog, hurricane tracker and the impact on residents.
  • ABC News Radio is providing multiple status reports per hour, and live anchored coverage, as events warrant, and will offer affiliates two-ways with meteorologists and reporters in the region. ABC Audio’s daily news podcast Start Here will feature coverage Thursday morning.
  • ABC NewsOne, the affiliate news service of ABC News, will provide full coverage from the storm zone with multiplatform reporters Morgan Norwood and Justin Finch. NewsOne provides news content and services for more than 200 ABC affiliates and international news partners.

CBS:

  • CBS anchor and correspondents reporting from Florida include Norah O’Donnell, David Begnaud, Manuel Bojorquez, Meg Oliver and Kris Van Cleave. 
  • O’Donnell anchored the CBS Evening News from Tampa on Tuesday and will do so again Wednesday.
  • CBS News Streaming’s politics program Red & Blue is being turned into a CBS News show today that will focus on Hurricane Ian. It will be hosted by Scott MacFarlane in DC but will have dispatches from Florida and storm leaders on to explain the latest/ramifications.
  • In addition, CBS News’ partnership with The Weather Channel enables The Weather Channel correspondents to appear on CBS News broadcasts and platforms.
  • The Weather Channel’s Felicia Combs & Jim Cantore will be reporting on the ground in Florida for CBS News as well, and Greg Postel will be reporting through interactive reality from The Weather Channel’s studio.

CNN:

  • John Berman, Randi Kaye, Carlos Suarez, Brian Todd, Bill Weir, Derek Van Dam and Ryan Young are reporting from locations in Florida, while Ana Maria Mejia and Gustavo Valdes report for CNN en Espanol. Patrick Oppmann continues to report from Cuba.
  • For those in the path of Hurricane Ian with a power outage or low mobile connectivity, CNN’s lite site for text-only stories and updates about the storm is available at lite.cnn.com.

Fox News/FBN/Fox Weather:

  • Fox News’ free ad-supported streaming weather service will feature around the clock breaking news coverage surrounding Ian, which will also live stream on YouTube.
  • Fox News will feature continuous coverage throughout the day and overnight with a special two-hour edition of Fox News @ Night anchored by Trace Gallagher starting at 11 p.m. ET, pre-empting Gutfeld!.
  • From 1-4 a.m. ET, FNC will simulcast Fox Weather’s continuous coverage while Fox Business will simulcast Fox Weather from 11 p.m.-1 a.m. ET.
  • Featuring meteorologists and multimedia journalists stationed throughout Florida to cover the developing situation on the ground, Fox Weather’s team coverage will include Robert Ray and Will Nunley in Ft. Myers, Nicole Valdes in Tampa Bay, Max Gorden in St. Petersburg, Brandy Campbell and Katie Byrne in Orlando and Mitti Hicks in Tallahassee.
  • Fox News will also have correspondents Phil Keating in Tampa Bay, Steve Harrigan in Placida, Jonathan Serrie in Jacksonville, Charles Watson in Sarasota and Nate Foy in Orlando, while Fox Business will have Ashley Webster in St. Petersburg.
  • Throughout the duration of the storm, Fox Weather hurricane specialist Bryan Norcross will host live Q&As on Fox Weather to help answer questions about the storm path and potential impact.
  • Anchoring from the Fox Weather Center will be meteorologists Amy Freeze, Jason Frazer, Steve Bender, Ian Oliver, among others from the network’s New York headquarters.
  • Fox Weather Beasts will track the hurricane through the Ft. Myers, Tampa and Orlando regions, while the team has stationed numerous Fox Weather cameras, waterproof live streaming camera boxes with weather sensors, along the west coast of the state allowing the weather service to live stream images from the middle of the storm where it is too dangerous to report outside.
  • Fox Weather has partnered with HurricaneTrack, utilizing the high definition hurricane camera system to provide unrivaled coverage throughout the storm. Viewers can watch the live stream from Fox Weather’s HD camera network throughout Florida on the channel’s YouTube platform.
    Throughout the breaking news coverage, Fox Weather will also utilize the Fox Model, which is a high-resolution forecast model using the latest computing technology to help project the path of the storm, exclusive to Fox Weather. The Fox Flight Team will also contribute to Fox Weather’s round the clock coverage, deploying rain resistant drones for aerial footage leading up to and following the landfall

MSNBC:

  • José Díaz-Balart will anchor MSNBC Reports at 10 a.m. ET live from the Gulf Coast and Velshi anchor Ali Velshi will report on the latest developments on-the-ground in Florida.

NBC:

  • NBC News anchors and correspondents contributing to coverage with the latest developments from Florida and the surrounding areas include: Ellison Barber, Sam Brock, Morgan Chesky, Jesse Kirsch, Steve Patterson, Chris Pollone and Kerry Sanders. Guad Venegas will continue his reporting from Cuba.
  • Lester Holt is anchoring NBC News special reports today from Bradenton, Fla., and will anchor the NBC Nightly News Wednesday on the ground.

  • NBCNews.com is carrying a robust live blog with the latest, nonstop coverage including updates from NBC News Digital national reporter Deon J. Hampton from on the ground from Florida.
  • Plus, NBC News Now is covering the latest breaking news out of the Gulf Coast and will carry any network special coverage of the storm.

The Weather Channel:

  • Jim Cantore, Stephanie Abrams, Mike Seidel, Felicia Combs, Paul Goodloe, Chris Warren, Alex Wilson, Justin Michaels, Chris Bruin, and Charles Peek are providing live team coverage throughout Florida.
  • Viewers can stay tuned to The Weather Channel on TV, The Weather Channel streaming app, or on SiriusXM channels 134 and 512.

NewsNation:

  • Senior National Correspondent Brian Entin and Southeast Reporters Xavier Walton, and Brooke Shafer will be covering Hurricane Ian from the ground in Florida.
  • Meteorologist Gerard Jebaily will be reporting throughout the day from NewsNation’s headquarters in Chicago.

Advertisement