Caroline Calloway, a name much of social media hasn't heard in years, trended anew last night for joining the cohort of people documenting their efforts to survive Hurricane Milton in Florida despite government advisories to evacuate.

It appears she did this to promote a book.

Calloway grew famous for being a social media "scammer" in the late 2010s. She had a book deal that fell through and then attempted to charge people $165 for a "creativity seminar" that was also harshly criticized. Her myriad controversies and accused grifts drew a significant amount of online attention, but she's had little press in the 2020s.

That is, until Tuesday, when she said she would not evacuate her Sarasota Beach residence and promoted her book, Elizabeth Wurtzel and Caroline Calloway’s Guide to Life, for social media. She seemed aware that hawking an advice book while not evacuating out of the path of a Category 5 hurricane was ironic.

She then documented the harrowing scenes outside her residence, which made some onlookers genuinely fearful for her life.

Currently in the eye of the storm. Here’s a video from before and seconds later. pic.twitter.com/6WNiMp1chO

— ◥◤Caroline Calloway (@carolinecaloway) October 10, 2024

Luckily, this afternoon, she updated the public on her living status, announcing that yes, she did. She also coincidentally linked to Know Your Meme in the process, which people should do more often.

Thus ends a harrowing 48 hours in which Caroline Calloway could have died, but thankfully didn't, even though she could have easily avoided being in harm's way. Of course, then she probably wouldn't be getting the attention she's seeing now.