Florida man straps his entire house down ahead of Hurricane Milton

A man who strapped his entire house down ahead of the Florida hurricane has become an internet sensation thanks to the 'legendary' idea.

Tampa resident Mohammed Nijem recently went viral after local news outlet Spectrum Bay News 9 shared an image to X, formerly Twitter, of the extreme preparations that he took ahead of Hurricane Milton.

Mohammed placed six enormous straps around his one-story home in a bid to keep it from washing or blowing away when the storm hits.

The bright yellow straps went over the roof and attached into the ground on both sides.

'Viewer Mohammed Nijem is getting prepped for Hurricane Milton,' the publication wrote, alongside a photo of his contraption.

The post, which was viewed more than 1.8 million times, left many social media users fascinated.

Some said they were impressed with his efforts, branding him as a 'legend' and praising him for 'thinking outside the box.'

Others admitted that they were now invested and needed to know if his idea actually worked.

'This is the most Florida thing I've ever seen,' one person joked.

'Everyone is laughing now, but this man will be a legend when all the other houses are floating down the road and he's sitting in his new living room swimming pool watching TV powered by a Starlink terminal,' wrote someone else.

'I actually respect the effort. I hope it is effective,' added another user.

'He's thinking outside the box, need more folks like him…' read a fourth tweet.

A fifth said, 'Bro secured his house like a piano when moving. Absolute legend.'

'Gangster move,' someone else simply tweeted. 

'I mean maybe he's on to something,' said a different user. 

Hurricane Milton has already started to impact Florida, bringing rain and high winds on its steady and potentially catastrophic march toward the west coast of Florida.

Forecasters expect Milton to make landfall at about 11pm EST as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 130mph. 

The greatest danger is posed by the wall of water, known as a storm surge, that Milton will whip up - which forecasters now believe will be a record-breaking 12 feet in height. 

Authorities have issued mandatory evacuation orders across 11 Florida counties with a population of about 5.9 million people - and warned that anyone staying behind must fend for themselves.