A CNN reporter was taken aback by an unusual sight while he was doing live coverage of Hurricane Idalia. A clip shared by the network shows Weather Anchor Derek Van Dam wading through floodwaters on Bayshore Boulevard in Tampa when two men on a big, inflatable duck casually paddled past him.
“This is something you don’t see every day," Van Dam remarks before looking at the duo. "Guys, guys, what are you doing?" The pair only laughed as they kept floating down the flooded streets.
"This is a very new way to beat rush hour traffic on Bayshore Boulevard," the anchor continued his coverage of the strange situation. “I don’t want to minimize the serious nature of this storm, but this is what people in Tampa are dealing with as we speak.”
The news crews were able to catch up with the kayakers in a separate clip, asking one of them, "Did you ever think that you would be kayaking down Bayshore Boulevard?
"I was always hoping, but I never knew for sure," the bold man replies.
"Well, now your dreams have come true!" the reporter said.
They're not the only Floridians exploring the devastation left behind by Idalia. Several residents are using kayaks, motorized watercraft, and other means to survey the hurricane damage in their neighborhoods and communities.
The National Weather Service warned Idalia could bring dangerous storm surges to coastal communities and cities in Florida. A king tide was also in the forecast for Tampa in particular, making the tides one to two feet higher than normal before Idalia made landfall Wednesday morning (August 30), according to the Tampa Bay Times.