Crisis situations can bring out the best, worst, and stupidest behavior mankind has to offer. That’s doubly true when the crisis is in Florida, infamously home to some superhumanly weird stories. A few examples as Hurricane Irma began wreaking havok on Saturday:
Florida man Ryon Edwards drew worldwide attention for his Facebook event page entitled “Shoot at Hurricane Irma,” featuring a photo of a man pointing a gun at the sky. The Pasco County sheriff’s department felt compelled to clarify that anti-hurricane gunfire was a bad idea:
Edwards later told the AP that it “”seems the joke may have gone over many people’s heads. I’ve got people in my inbox mad as hell because they think this is actually happening. I don’t know whether to laugh or sigh.”
Florida Man Rush Limbaugh argued on his popular radio show that Hurricane Irma was exaggerated by the liberal media to drive up ratings: “You have people in all of these government areas who believe man is causing climate change, and they’re hellbent on proving it, they’re hellbent on demonstrating it, they’re hellbent on persuading people of it.”
He prudently evacuated his Florida home on September 9, as Irma made its way to shore.
Florida man Ramon Santiago became an internet hero after he handed over the last generator at a Lowe’s in Orlando to a distressed woman who had been fruitlessly search for one to power her sick father’s oxygen machine. The store rewarded Santiago with a free generator the next day.
This anonymous Florida Man ran into a news crew on the beach, and turned out to know so much about the hurricane that he probably could have taken the channel’s coverage for the rest of the day:
Another nameless Florida Man went a little too far for a good Instagram Story:
This intrepid Florida Man tried to break through the winds on a bicycle:
This batshit Florida man told a TV crew that he planned to tie himself to a post while the hurricane moved through the area. “It sounds crazy, but there’s a meaning behind it,” the man said. “It’s all planned out with safety precautions and everything.”
This Florida boy told a news crew the reason he and his family weren’t fleeing the storm was that “we’re savages.”
And these meteorologists may not live in Florida, but were honorary Florida men today, heroically/foolishly taking wind measurements in gale-force winds: