TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — While Tampa Bay area residents were preparing their homes and evacuating due to Hurricane Idalia making its way toward Florida’s Gulf Coast, a jet skier was caught on camera riding the choppy waves in the Bay.
TikTok user Maya Mitchell posted the video to social media on Tuesday, saying, “Floridians don’t take nothing serious. I see what y’all mean now.”
Mitchell said the jet skier was spotted off Bayshore Blvd. in Tampa around 2 p.m. Tuesday. Since the video was posted to TikTok nearly 20 hours ago, it has over 130,000 views and over 23,000 likes.
Tampa avoided a direct hit from Idalia, however, the hurricane’s storm surge is the main concern for residents as flooding continues to shut down roadways and bridges, causing unsafe driving conditions.
According to the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Idalia made landfall as a Category 3 storm near Keaton Beach on Wednesday morning. The NHC said Idalia is bringing catastrophic storm surge and destructive winds to Florida’s Big Bend.
Emergency officials are telling residents to keep off the roads and stay hunkered down until storm conditions subside.