A Florida reporter captured viewers’ attention Wednesday when the condom on her microphone flashed on the screen during an outdoor hurricane broadcast.
NBC2’s Kyla Galer was reporting on Hurricane Ian’s landfall from a parking lot in Fort Myers, Florida, when viewers became distracted by the bulbous rubber casing on her microphone.
“NBC 2 practicing safe microphone reporting during hurricane Ian,” tweeted one viewer.
“@NBCNewsNow really got this woman out here holding a mic wrapped in a condom up to her face,” chimed in another.
Galer quickly defended the practice on her Instagram Stories.
“A lot of people are asking what is on my microphone,” she said.
“It is what you think it is. It’s a condom. It helps protect the gear. You can’t get these mics wet. There’s a lot of wind and a lot of rain, so we gotta do what we gotta do and that is put a condom on the microphone.”
Galer’s colleague, ABC7’s Jeff Butera, then shared his own picture of Galer’s microphone up close.
He tweeted the image alongside a cheeky caption, writing “WE PRACTICE SAFE HURRICANE REPORTING.”
“Yes, it’s a condom,” he continued.
“Nothing better to waterproof a microphone. My Waterman Broadcasting colleague @kylagaler has been fielding lots of questions, haha. Moment of levity in this nasty storm…#HurricaneIan.”
The funny exchange comes amid worsening conditions on Florida’s west coast, as Hurricane Ian ravages Naples with record-breaking storm surges and winds over 100 mph.
With extreme wind warnings issued for the Fort Myers area, experts are warning residents of surges of up to 18 feet.
Earlier today, Gov. Ron DeSantis warned Floridians that it was too late to “safely evacuate” from certain counties on the hurricane’s track.
“It’s time to hunker down,” he stressed.