Unless there's a footing these straps are being anchored to that I'm not seeing, I doubt it'll do very much besides potentially acting as very dangerous whips.
I’ve seen these deck strap things that you push way down into the ground and as you pull them up a little the flatten out and turn sideways. Really easy to install and harder than hell to pull out. I think it’s called an earth anchor maybe. I bet that’s what he used here.
yeah these look like footings to me, i see what looks to be a small concrete protuberance right out of the ground. Also these would likely just pull out of the ground if they weren't anchored, and they wouldn't be whips, just very odd debris.