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Windsurfing, Kitesurfing & Sailing

Kiteboarding in Hurricane Irma | Florida Residents Take on Miami Beach Waves

"This is not what the mayor of Miami Beach who called this a ‘nuclear hurricane,’ wants to see..."

In a move reminiscent of Patrick Swayze’s Bodie riding into the big bad wave at the end of Point Break, motivated residents of Florida have been picking up their kiteboards recently and heading out to ride the waves of Hurricane Irma.

MSNBC host Alex Witt, for one, was less than happy with the development… though in her defence, kiteboarding isn’t exactly the smartest thing to be doing during a hurricane.

In a live report from Miami Beach, Witt shouts to on-location reporter Mariana Atencio: “Is that somebody kitesurfing behind you? Oh, come on!”

Actually, no Alex, it’s not someone kitesurfing. It’s somebody kiteboarding.

“That’s exactly what I wanted to show you, Alex” Atencio replies. “This is not the scene that officials here, first responders want to be looking at. Because the storm has shifted slightly west, you’re starting to see people here in Miami Beach — under a mandatory evacuation order — doing water sports.

“There are onlookers taking photos. There are also about a dozen people in front of me. It’s a similar scene over on the other side. This is not, again, what the mayor of Miami Beach who called this a ‘nuclear hurricane,’ wants to be seeing right now.

Witt follows up to ask: “Are there police or security around to tell people to stay out of the waters?” to which Atencio replies: “Right now, on this stretch of the beach, I’m not seeing any police around. But I have seen them on every corner of Miami Beach.”

It seems slightly hypocritical of course to criticise somebody in the water during the storm, when you yourself are out in the same storm reporting on it, but who are we to judge.

Whatever you do folks, stay safe over there.

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