Hurricane Ian is on its way to the west coast of Florida, but not everyone in the state is hunkering down.
While millions of people are under mandatory and voluntary evacuation orders, some are actually heading to the coast to catch a glimpse of the approaching Category 4 hurricane.
On Tuesday, a reporter spotted two children playing in the rough waters of Key West. The city was under a storm surge watch throughout the day, with dangerous ocean conditions.
CBS posted video of the children frolicking in the water as the wind continued to stir up waves.
Several people in the comment section were critical of the children's parents, saying the kids could easily get swept up in the water and drown. Some even criticized the reporter for filming instead of helping to get the children out of the water.
Toward the end of the video, it does appear that the children were about to get out of the water and walk to the shore.
The children appear to be safe, but that's not always the case when storm surge is involved. According to the National Hurricane Center, storm surge is often the greatest threat to life and property from a hurricane. During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, at least 1,500 people lost their lives and many of those deaths occurred directly, or indirectly, as a result of storm surge, the center said.
Storm surge is an abnormal rise of water being pushed toward the shore by the force of the winds moving around the storm, according to the NHC. This rise in water level can cause extreme flooding in coastal areas particularly when storm surge coincides with normal high tide.
The center of the storm is expected to hit the west coast of Florida on Wednesday. The NHC has warned of "life-threatening storm surge, catastrophic winds and flooding." The center is predicting a storm surge of 12 to 18 feet above ground level with destructive waves along the southwest Florida coastline from Englewood to Bonita Beach.
It is not exactly clear where Ian will make landfall, but officials expect it to hit somewhere between Fort Myers and Tampa.
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