It was no small feat for Mike Smalls.
The Florida influencer is getting trolled online for the odd camping trip outside during Hurricane Helene so he could film the deadly storm.
Originally posted on video platform Kick, the Jackass-style stunt footage is currently blowing up on X.
“I knew some might find it shocking, fun, dumb, comical or even weird,” the 26-year-old from Tampa told Jam Press.
The Darwin Award nominee often films himself performing strange and silly feats, including trolling people at McDonald’s and on college campuses.
For his latest challenge on Sept. 26, Smalls tried to take on the Category 4 storm that hit the Gulf Coast last week, leaving more than 160 people dead in six states, including Florida (although House Counsel White House National Security Adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall said the number could be as high as 600).
This makes Helene the second deadliest hurricane to hit the continental US in the past 55 years, eclipsed only by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Still, Smalls, who was in the seaside neighborhood of Bayshore when the storm hit, said he wanted to film himself camping during the hurricane because it was “something creative and new. [that] the live streaming industry has never seen before.”
“I’ve always loved storms growing up so the idea of ’chasing the storm’ really appealed to me,” the live streamer explained. “And I’m always looking for ways to increase viewership just like any other creator.”
Accompanying footage shows Smalls trying to erect a tent during wild winds, which reportedly gusted up to 130mph in some parts of the Sunshine State.
“I’m going out with a bang,” declares the Floridian huddled in his tent as it is engulfed by the howling storm.
Moments later, the power seeker can be seen calling for help as water threatens to engulf his camp.
The Florida man was then criticized for the only stunt in Florida with one critic writing on X, “Anything for views these days.”
“Bro is risking his life for some looks, this generation is cooked,” commented another.
Many were surprised that Small was not a dead broadcaster. “Money isn’t worth it if you’re not alive,” observed one.
The amateur storm chaser was not surprised by the reaction, which he said was exactly how people responded to most “live streaming stunts”.
“Many people gave me props for the creativity and courage to pull something like this off, while others thought it was attention-grabbing, too silly, or something I did ‘just for looks,'” the daredevil said. “Although I knew that regardless of the feedback I got from the audience and what people’s opinions were, people would tune in just to see what would happen.”
Plus, while the stunt certainly wasn’t for the faint of heart, Smalls claimed he did “extensive research” before attempting it.
“I knew the hurricane would be bad, but not as bad in my area if I timed it right,” Bozo insisted. “Just enough to get a very suspenseful live stream.”
“There were parts of the stream where I was a little worried, but overall, I’m a fun person and a very calculated person,” said Smalls, who claims he would never have done it if his life was “at risk “.
The content creator said the challenge of the storm was worth it in the end, stating, “I’m a relatively small streamer and this was my biggest stream I’ve ever done.”
It wasn’t the first hurricane-related stunt for Smalls, who earlier that week filmed himself standing in a flooded parking garage for a video titled “all Ubers are unavailable.”
Helene, combined with a supporting rainstorm in the days before landfall, dumped more than 40 trillion gallons of water across the South in just five days, according to Ed Clark, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Water Center. .
“That’s an astronomical amount of precipitation,” Clark said.
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Image Source : nypost.com