Florida residents spotted braving historic storm to wakeboard and even SWIM despite 18-foot swells

Florida residents were spotted tempting fate by braving the historic Hurricane Ian Wednesday to wakeboard, wave American flags, and even swim in flooded cities – despite raging swells that reached upwards of 18 feet.

As much of the state took measures to ready themselves for the storm, these Floridians characteristically threw caution to the wind despite potentially life-threatening conditions.

The offenders came from cities across the southwest coast of the peninsula, where the brunt of the storm, then a category 4, was felt – where others flocked to take shelter or found themselves trapped on rooftops as water levels rapidly rose.

The ill-advised antics saw some of the daredevils forced to be saved by rescue officials, after defying warnings from city officials such as Governor Ron DeSantis to stay put and wait out the tempest.

Meanwhile, the extremely dangerous conditions the storm is unleashing – which include the aforementioned floods and life-threatening storm surge – are expected to persist Thursday, as it advances inland toward the central part of the state.

The increment weather, however, did not stop these citizens from getting their fill of the storm.

Scroll down for video: 

 In Fort Meyers, where almost were left without power Wednesday following flooding in the excess of 6 feet, two seemingly not-so-bright daredevils took to the waters off the coastal city despite a seemingly unrevivable torrent of water.

The swimmers’ ill-advised outing, on a pier off Estero Blvd overlooking the Atlantic, was caught by a surveillance camera, and the footage was subsequently shared online by Twitter user with the handle @setzeus.

‘Category 5 & these idiots are out tempting fate,’ the user wrote in a caption to the clip, which shows the outmatched swimmers being completely overwhelmed by waves fueled by the storm surge, which officials had then warned could become a Category-5 threat.

‘Come collect them before they disappear,’ the social media user wrote, in a sarcastic post intended for the seemingly young swimmer’s parents. 

The swimmers’ antics took place just after 10 am, a timestamp on the video shows – just after the then Category 4 storm made landfall on the state’s southwest coast.

It would proceed to engulf palm trees and rip some from their roots as it was forced forward by 155mph winds – only the fifth storm in history to hit land at that speed.

Meanwhile, just a few miles south in the in also-coastal Cape Coral, a man also braved the elements in the early morning to show his patriotic pride, waving an American flag down a deserted street in the hurricane force winds.

The video was taken shortly after noon, about 10 miles south of Fort Myers – the city that saw the worst of the storm and flooding.

Fortunately for the flagbearer, despite the highspeed winds, his excursion came before conditions in the area quickly deteriorated, with much of the city currently submerged in several feet of water. 

The man, seemingly an aspiring content creator, posted the clip himself and has since taken shelter safely, The New York Post reported.

Another brazen flag man was spotted in another clip posted to TikTok, with this flag bearing the slightly less patriotic message ‘F**k Biden,’ disparaging the US president. 

A few miles north, in the also coastal city of Sarasota, citizens also experienced highspeed winds and slightly less extensive flooding – clearing the way for one brave man to take his jet ski for a spin in the then raging ocean.

Footage shared to social media by Twitter user Hally Leadbetter showed the unidentified man bouncing on the water, despite severe swells and breaking waves.

Somehow, even with the surge, the citizen managed to stay upright – with the clip since garnering 2.7million views.

Another clip, shared by Boston 25 meteorologist Jason Brewer, showed a homeowner’s completely flooded home in nearby Naples, which experienced flooding so severe that officials were forced to instill a 10pm curfew.

Other recently surfaced media shows some brazen Floridians paddle-boarding in the surge-fueled surf in the beachside city, seemingly oblivious to the extent of the disaster occurring in real-time around them.

The behavior spurred Naples Mayor Teresa Heitmann to plead with residents to stay inside after several had to be rescued from the fast-rising floodwaters.

‘We just had some citizens that were out on paddle boards or thought they could swim,’ Heitmann told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. ‘The fire department had to rescue them.’

The mayor panned the behavior, saying that instead of seeking ‘entertainment,’ Floridians should hunker down until the storm subsides.

‘We still have water on the streets. We have downed power lines, … abandoned cars,’ she said. ‘We really are in a dangerous, devastating situation.’

The eye of the storm currently sits about 70 miles south of Orlando, as east-central Florida braces for similar circumstances seen in coastal cities such as Fort Meyers and Naples. 

Fort Myers was one worst battered by Ian, with several homes decimated by its wrath as roads turned into rivers with the tsunami of floodwater. 

Naples and nearby Sanibel Island were also rocked by the ‘historic’ hurricane, with images of the latter showing a beachside pool overwhelmed by water as the region saw winds in the excess of 155mph. 

Images show the extent of the damage sustained to the Sunshine State’s southwest coast, with now nearly 2million out of power and forced to their home’s rooftops as water levels are still reported to be on the rise.