The sheriff in Florida’s Pasco Country, United States, found himself with the additional responsibility of debunking a rumour that shooting at Hurricane Irma would make the Category 4 storm turn around. A United States citizen identified as Ryon Edwards created a page suggesting that shooting at the storm would save residents from its wrath.
Around 54,000 people had shown interest in Edwards’ page by Sunday. “To clarify, do not shoot weapons at Hurricane Irma,” Pasco Sheriff tweeted amid the major mass evacuation preparations for the storm. “You will not make it turn around and it will have very dangerous side effect.”
“A combination of stress and boredom made me start the event,” Edwards 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.”
The page has triggered a range of comments from the social media platform’s users, in a country where the gun debate is still a heated one. It is unclear, however, about how many of them were serious about shooting at the storm.
Another unbelievable page on Facebook is titled, “Everybody points their fans at The Hurricane To Blow It Away”. Around 60,000 users showed interest in the page.
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