A Florida man who suggested shooting guns at Hurricane Irma out of “stress and boredom” has found that his idea has captured peoples’ imaginations – with over 46,000 signing up to join in.
Hurricane Irma is due to hit Florida on Saturday, and the state is currently experiencing the largest ever mass evacuation due to a hurricane in American history.
But Ryon Edwards, 22, came up with a novel way of amusing himself during the storm: firing bullets into it.
He started a Facebook “event”, and as of Friday evening 46,000 people say they are interested.
“A combination of stress and boredom made me start the event,” he told the BBC.
“The response is a complete and total surprise to me.
“I never envisioned this event becoming some kind of crazy idea larger than myself. It has become something a little out of my control.”
Graphics suggesting how to shoot at a hurricane have sprung up online, with the suggestion that if you fire correctly the bullet might not come back and kill you.
Since Mr Edwards came up with his “masterplan”, other similar Facebook pages have been created – including one suggesting using flame throwers to scare away the storm.
“It’s time we took a stand against this bully!” reads the event description. “This is our home, nobody drives us out of our own territory.
“Join me in this fight as we shoot flames at Hurricane Irma and dissipate her on the spot.”