Florida residents must be prepared for the possibility of dealing with hurricanes.
Some Floridians ride the storms out in a riskier manner than others.
And a Florida man survived the worst during the hurricane with this reckless decision.
A Florida man navigates the hurricane in true Florida man fashion
Hurricane Helene slammed into the Big Bend region of Florida on the state’s Gulf Coast.
The Category 4 hurricane brought torrential rains and winds up to 140 miles per hour.
It became the strongest hurricane on record to hit the Big Bend region.
Helene brought record storm surges to Florida’s Gulf Coast with the Tampa-St. Petersburg metro area receiving more than seven feet of seawater in some areas.
The flooding extended to the southwestern Florida cities of Fort Myers and Naples.
Florida residents in the Tampa area were left with the choice of evacuating or riding out the hurricane.
A Florida man posted a video of himself on social media navigating around his flooded house in the Tampa Bay area in a purple and white kayak.
Matt Heller bought the kayak to use in an emergency.
“The kayak — it was my escape plan in case stuff got too hairy, we could get out,” Heller told CNN. “I didn’t think I was gonna need it in my living room.”
His home was hit with at least five and a half feet of water that poured in over the course of two hours.
A once in a lifetime experience for a Florida man
Heller’s home did not lose power at first as the water level began to rise but eventually, he joined the millions of Floridians who lost power during the storm.
“I was floating around, I was surprised the power stayed on for as long as it did,” Heller explained.
He had to switch over to candlelight once the power went out at his home.
NEW: Florida man Matthew Heller films himself in his kayak in his own living room as hurricane Helene intensifies.
Helene is currently a Category 4 storm and has caused widespread power outages, flooding & 140-mile-per-hour winds.pic.twitter.com/V83oJBomaK
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) September 27, 2024
Heller managed to keep his cool despite his home being flooded.
@mattfromhornblasters.com #LIVEhighlights #TikTokLIVE #LIVE ♬ original sound – Matthew Heller
At one point, he went into the garage where water was pouring under the door.
He opened the door which let more come in.
The water was around the level of the doorknobs in his house at the peak.
“At least I’m not electrocuting myself anymore,” Heller said.
He had a chlorine device floating in the water that he explained was disinfecting it.
“Florida things. Florida man doing Florida things,” Heller said with a big sigh.
Heller, a Florida native, thought it would be fun to highlight his experience riding out the storm on TikTok.
“Growing up in Florida, we’re kind of used to the tropical storm alerts and the flooding, evacuation stuff. We don’t really pay any mind as much as we should,” Heller told WALA. “This storm was different. We had five feet of water in the house. The water started coming in and I was like, “Oh cool, I’ll show it on TikTok. I’m sure some folks will get a giggle out of this,” and it didn’t stop.”
Next time he was not sure if he would ride out the storm.
“Don’t be like me, I got to say. Take the news and all those weather reports serious,” Heller stated. “I don’t know if I’ll hang out for the next one.”
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this story.
