East Coast residents are busily readying themselves for the onslaught of Hurricane Dorian, which has already brought chaos and devastation to part of the Bahamas.
Multiple evacuation orders will come into force on Monday as officials warn of dangerous storm surges, strong winds and driving rain in Florida and the Carolinas as Dorian slowly crawls towards the coast.
The Category 5 storm has registered sustained winds of up to 185 miles per hour, and is among the most powerful hurricanes ever observed in the Atlantic Ocean, The Washington Post reported.
It would be natural to feel helpless in the face of such raw power. But among the many vox pop interviews with local residents, one Florida man was more annoyed than afraid—annoyed that the government had not yet come up with a way to stop extreme weather events.
And in an interview shared by Florida Today reporter Tyler Vasquez, the man even proposed his own quirky solution: sending in the military.
From a mobile home park in Palm Bay, this man has some ideas on how the military could stop hurricanes. #HurricaneDorian pic.twitter.com/JAiFJ7QAOc
— tyler vazquez (@tyler_vazquez) September 1, 2019
The unidentified man said that officials had explained that warm weather and warm water are driving the hurricane. "We have a navy," the man said, turning to look into the camera. "Why don't the navy come and drop ice in the warm water so it can't get going as fast as it's going?"
"There's got to be ways to combat this instead of just pointing at the thing and saying, 'Well, now it's getting worse!'" he added. "Yeah, we know it's getting worse!"
The man suggested the military could also tackle the problem of warm wind. "We have an air force. Drive some air force planes around to get the winds going the opposite way," he said. "Get the navy to go in circles to fight it the other way," he added.
The video quickly picked up steam on Twitter, eliciting an incredulous response from users.
Among them was rapper Ice-T, who wrote, "This guy is a Whitehouse adviser Right?"—an apparent reference to the anti-science reputation of President Donald Trump's administration and the president's recently reported suggestion to use nuclear weapons to dissipate hurricanes.
Former NBA star Rex Chapman shared the video and simply wrote, "Allowed to vote...," while ABC sportscaster Troy Renck replied, "Peter Griffin is no longer stuck in animation."
Former Florida Governor and Republican presidential primary contender Jeb Bush was more positive in his response, tweeting, "I love my state." However, Twitter users were quick to suggest Bush should not be lauding the scientific illiteracy on show in the video.
Dorian could make landfall in the U.S. as early as Tuesday, though may also remain at sea while moving slowly northwards along the coast. Regardless, residents in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina all face an increasing risk of strong winds and dangerous storm surge in coastal areas.
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