Weather reporter under fire for not rescuing stranded kitten shown during coverage of Florida's Hurricane Ian

A weather reporter in the US has come under fire over a report he filed during Hurricane Ian in Florida, showing a kitten stranded in rising waters.

Dylan Federico, who works at WINK News, was broadcasting from the station's location in Fort Myers when he shared footage of the weather event on social media.

Federico pointed the camera to a window at the TV station, outside which a kitten could clearly be seen wet and stranded on a ledge.

"Storm surge is rising rapidly outside WINK News," he wrote.

Watch the video above.

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"A kitten is on the bench trying to escape the water. The doors are locked but we're trying to get the kitten inside."

The backlash was immediate, with the weather reporter's social media followers demanding he rescue the kitten immediately and confirm he had done so.

"Your next tweet better be a picture of you standing in waist deep water inside while holding the kitten up above your head as it curls up in a warm blanket lapping from a saucer of cream," one person commented.

Federico attempted to temper the negative reaction he was receiving by deleting the tweet, prompting even more outrage.

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"Why'd you delete the kitten tweet, Dylan?" one user asked. "DID YOU SAVE THE CAT!?"

Federico attempted to move on from the unfortunate moment with further reports about the hurricane, but his social media followers weren't quite done. Many took to his accounts to share videos of people who had risked their lives to save animals during the weather event.

One person observed of the reporter's subsequent posts: "In his video on Facebook you can sadly see the empty bench."

Social media followers became more distressed when meteorologist Ashley Ruiz, who works at a news station in Louisiana, claimed she had been told the kitten did not make it.

"One of my coworkers worked at WINK and she texted a friend there asking if the kitten got saved," Ruiz tweeted. "Their reply was 'I don't think so.' and then 'It didn't survive.'"

Federico didn't respond until later that day, claiming the kitten swam away.

"Right after the video was posted we attempted to get to the cat but it swam in a different direction out of view," he said.

"I waited to post an update in hopes we could grab it. Please take your companions with you when you evacuate."

It was later revealed the kitten had been rescued and was being cared for.

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"UPDATE: The kitty stranded in the floodwaters outside WINK news was saved by a wonderful producer who is adopting her.

"Posting for my friends at the station who still can't get internet. They are working so hard to get back on air for you."

It has clearly been a stressful time for Federico and those in Florida. He and his colleagues have been working around the clock, and he tweeted that they were being evacuated during the incident.

"212AM: Just woke up. We are being emergency evacuated from the WINK News building. I have no idea what's going on."

He later tweeted: "Fort Myers is devastated. Tough hurricane proof infrastructure that's in shambles. There's no electricity or water. It's unlivable. Wind damage is far worse than I saw after Irma, Ida, Harvey, or Katrina."

The next morning, he confirmed they'd been let back into the studio but their ability to broadcast had been impacted.

"Storm surge got into our WINK studios in Fort Myers, flooded the entire first floor," he tweeted.

"Lost power and was unable to continue broadcasting on tv/radio. No timetable on return to air. #Ian was the strongest hurricane in Southwest Florida history. Widespread destruction heading home."