The Irresistible Force and the Immovable Object

You've heard the old limerick, Ruth and Johnny side by side Went out one day for an auto ride. John hit a bump: Ruth hit a tree, And Johnny kept going ruthlessly. Here's an animated graphic from the National Weather Service I cannot get out of my mind from August, 2014. Imagine "Ruth" is the hurricane Iselle and Mona Loa is the "tree." Notice the effect of the "irresistible" force meeting the immovable object at frame 33 to 37 in this link. What do you think? Could mountains be used to mitigate against hurricanes?