Hurricane Milton wreaked havoc when it tore through Florida in October 2024. The storm reached top wind speeds of 180 miles per hour, and triggered more than a dozen tornadoes. By the time Milton was done, it had left behind $50 billion worneighbor th of destruction. One resident shared how he suffered $300,000 in damages to his home after the storm, but not only because of Hurricane Milton.
The man became the unfortunate victim of a dodgy "arborist" after a neighbor's tree landed in his yard. Instead of safely removing the tree, the con artist ended up catapulting it onto the man's pool and house. Then disappeared. The angry resident unleashed a few digital tornadoes of his own, in a bid to make the unlicensed arborist's business come crashing down. Bored Panda reached out to him to find out more about his epic act of revenge.
Hurricane Milton caused mass chaos for Florida residents, businesses, authorities and insurance companies
Image credits: Marek Studzinski / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
When an unlicensed "arborist" tried to take advantage of the situation, another storm ensued
Image credits: Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Ave Calvar / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Bench Accounting / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
Image credits: OandGTechy
"Protecting others is my #1 priority": resident tells Bored Panda
The man at the center of the petty revenge happens to be the owner of an AI company. He learned to code in third grade and now focuses on industrial solutions. He revealed to us that he's so far spent $180 on domains and hosting costs to take down the unlicensed arborist's business. He tells Bored Panda he carried out the strategic act because he loves his community and didn't want them to be conned by a fraud during an already vulnerable time.
"My wife and I are blessed enough that we have insurance and we have some money. Not crazy amounts of money, but enough that this doesn’t end our world," he said during our chat. "I did this because I didn’t want people in my already devastated community to get even more hurt by a bad actor."
The man told Bored Panda his neighbor hasn’t reached out since the "arborist" disappeared. He believes it's because they're afraid of the legal consequences from hiring an unlicensed arborist. "Funny enough, if they would have just apologized, I would be far less likely to be mad at them. Apologies go a long way with me," said the resident.
Fortunately, he and his family received an outpouring of kindness assistance from a few people. "My other neighbors have offered to help with the clean-up, gave us their generator after the storm," he told us, adding that he suffered ten days without power due to the tree going through an electrical line. "[They] let us take warm showers at their house, and even had us over for dinner."
The resident says he contacted the cops when the "arborist" damaged his property and dared to disappear. "The police said it was a civil matter if no one is actively at risk of being physically hurt, or was physically hurt," he revealed. "In Florida, there is a State agency that pursues contractors working without a license. I have filed with them in October, but I haven’t heard anything back as of yet."
The man says he's not sure if getting the "arborist" arrested is the best outcome. But adds that given the guy's criminal background, he doesn't want him to hurt anyone else. "Protecting others is my #1 priority," he told us.
Suing someone isn't as easy as some people might believe...
The techie said he was surprised by how many people advised him to take legal action against the unscrupulous tree feller. "It was shocking how many people think that you can just sue someone. You can sue anyone for anything, but actually recouping the costs is a totally separate matter," he said before going into more detail.
"This guy was previously arrested, didn’t have the money or sense to renew his LLC ($20), didn’t have the money or sense to renew his domain ($20), didn’t have the money or sense to get insurance," he elaborated. "Yet I am to expect him to have the money to pay for a legal judgement? The lawyers for the litigation would cost tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands. The legal bills *may* be recoverable."
The resident told us he has hired an attorney, and if they think it is a good idea to sue, he will take their advice. "Otherwise, the destruction of his business and personal reputation will have to suffice," he said.
The techie's actions seem to have inspired others. He says he's received several messages since he posted about the incident. Some people merely wished him well. But others contacted him for advice on how to make their own similar sites, and attorneys came forward offering to help take down the alleged arborist.
"This isn't petty, it's world class": netizens praised the techie for how he handled the situation
