Daily Mail: Reporter desperate to protect mic from storm Ian covers it with condom

Story from Daily Mail:

We've all resorted to extreme lengths to keep our possessions dry, but one reporter took it a step further during her coverage of Hurricane Ian.

Viewers spotted an unusual mic attachment when tuning into NBC's coverage of the Category 4 storm in Florida on Wednesday.

NBC's Kyla Galer explained to viewers that she had placed a condom on the mic to protect it from the rain.

'A lot of people are asking, what is on my microphone. It is what you think it is — it's a condom!' Galer explained.

'It helps protect the gear, we can't get these mics wet. There's a lot of wind, there's a lot of rain, so we got to do what we got to do, and that is put a condom on the microphone.'

She was reporting in the Naples area of Florida, where the Category 4 storm has left thousands without power.

Galer went on to use the mic in her reporting, bringing live coverage to NBC's viewers while protecting her equipment.

'That's how you wrap up a weather segment for sure,' said one social media user, posting on Twitter.

'My Waterman Broadcasting colleague has been fielding lots of questions, haha,' said ABC7's Jeff Butera, who added that they practice 'safe hurricane reporting'.

'Weather comes at you hard!' said a second social media user.

'If it works it works', added a third.

Reporters have been battered up and down the state as news stations send their veteran storm chasers to cover the hurricane.

A weather forecaster from CBS was placed in Florida's biggest city, Miami, and stood outside by the state's signature palm trees as rain pelted down upon her and the news crew.

One weather forecaster from Fox News came to the state prepared and tracked the storm in Charlotte County while donning thick goggles and a long raincoat as he challenged the Hurricane.

Other correspondents are seen wearing helmets to protect them from flying debris.

The Pentagon said 3,200 national guardsmen had been called up in Florida, with an additional 1,800 coming later.

Authorities in several municipalities, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Tampa, were distributing free sandbags to help residents protect their homes from flooding.

Terrified residents have also been desperately digging huge trenches to redirect flood water from their homes while others have stripped supermarket shelves bare of water and essentials.

Schools in 26 districts across Florida have announced that they will be closed as more than one million homes along Florida's west coast are at risk of storm surge damage from Hurricane Ian.