Staff at a New Orleans television station evacuated the control room during live coverage of Hurricane Ida Sunday night after the massive storm tore off parts of the roof, according to one of the anchors.
“The ceiling has peeled away,” tweeted WGNO anchor Susan Roesgen.
Other parts of the studio and newsroom were also seriously affected, staff reported.
Images and videos shared by WGNO journalists Chris Welty and Sefenech Henok showed ceiling tiles and water falling into the newsroom. The station’s chief meteorologist, Hank Allen, tweeted that there were “flakes of ceiling falling on me in studio here.” Another meteorologist said that one of the station’s satellite dishes had been smashed by a piece of building that was torn off.
The storm caused “serious damage to the building that houses WGNO’s studios,” the Galleria in Metairie, the station said, but there were no reports of injuries and storm coverage continued.
Meteorologist Scot Pilié livestreamed footage from the newsroom, saying he could feel the building shaking on the eighth floor. He also posted video of a damaged satellite dish and debris scattered outside.
He said the newsroom area had been roped off and staff moved out due to the damage.
All of New Orleans was without power Sunday night after it was hit by the storm, one of the most powerful to ever hit the U.S. mainland when it blasted into Louisiana as a Category 4 with 150mph winds, causing extensive damage and at least one death.
President Joe Biden on Sunday night designated the storm a major disaster.