Tropical Storm Hilary has been making its way through Southern California leaving intense storms and devastating floods. Californians seem to be making the most of the floods, as a viral TikTok demonstrates. Stephanie shows the view from her porch of people playing basketball in the flood waters.
The panoramic video was featured over commentary telling the audience to go to Hawaii for their hurricanes, calling the California hurricane experience “mid.” It appears as though the creator and many other Californians are underwhelmed by the products of the Hurricane, which has been recently downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone.
This actually isn’t the original video under the sound; a lot of Californians are taking advantage of @AutoRiot’s commentary in order to show the bizarre side of California hurricane culture — from playing basketball, to rafting.
Many Californians commented in their videos that they were expecting more from the hurricane, implying that they were disappointed by the rain showers and floods that came with the tropical storm.
Lots of commenters were mainly concerned about the people standing in the flood water (which you should not do, by the way). Others were praising the creativity of the Californians’ hurricane hobbies. Several others chimed in to agree with their own disappointment with the effects of the hurricane, saying that they hadn’t even realized when the storm passed over them. One commenter even said that they were jealous of the video creators’ flood coverage.
According to CBS news, these TikTok Californians aren’t the only ones noticing the minimal effects of the storm. As of August 21, Hilary has yet to cause any deaths or injuries to Southern Californians. However, many Californians have lost power, and there is significant flooding all across the state. Storms are now moving across Arizona, Nevada, and Utah, all of which have flood warnings. Despite the lack of severe damage, the hurricane is expected to cause mudslides and landslides. Concerned citizens can track Hillary’s path on The Weather Channel.
As the hurricane Hilary TikTok content roles in and the actual hurricane roles out, it’s important to remember not to duplicate the seemingly fun activities in viral TikTok. According to UCLA Health, It is not safe to stand, much less play basketball in flood water, and any evacuation warnings should be taken seriously. However, from the other side of the states, it certainly is interesting to see just how bizarrely Californians cope with a hurricane.