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People struggled to stand and deckchairs became dangerous projectiles as they were blown across the pool deck of a cruise ship docked in Florida, as a torrential storm passed over the ship before it set sail on a Caribbean cruise.
The storm was caught on cellphone camera as it approached the cruise ship, Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas, as one of the guests aboard filmed from an upstairs lounge.
The storm came as quickly as it went, but it left a colossal amount of damage in its wake.
Footage sees guests aboard the massive ship struggle to maintain their footing as the ferocious winds blew across the upper decks.
Passengers didn’t seem in too much of a hurry before the storm arrived
The rain battered the cruise ship as the rain appeared to come in sideways
Guests were forced to the ground with many unable to stand upright any longer
Many struggled to find shelter in the moments before the strong winds and hurricane-like rains arrived.
Visibility was reduced to near zero as another ship anchored on the horizon also suddenly vanished from view.
Although many guests appeared to have decided that they would ride out the short sharp, Florida shower, they quickly regretted their decision such was the ferocity of the microburst.
The tropical downpour hit the ship while it was still docked at Port Canaveral on Florida’s east coast.
Guests could be seen lying on the ground as they were unable to reach shelter fast enough
Guests resorted to sliding along on their bottoms as the ferocious winds left them unable to stand
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The sundeck was a twisted pile of metal as deck chars and umbrellas piled on top of one another
Sunbeds could be seen flying across the deck through the air much like out of a scene from Twister, the 1996 disaster film about tornado chasers.
As guests raced to get inside, many found they were too late as they were pushed back by the extremely strong winds.
The rain lashed the windows coming in at right angles.
In another shot filmed on the pool deck itself, one flying deckchair smashed directly into a child’s stroller, knocking it over onto the ground.
Fortunately, the child was being held by its parents at the time – otherwise they would like have been seriously injured.
The storm dissipated as quickly as it arrived. The sundeck was left with a mass of twisted metal with deckchairs and umbrellas piled high on top of one another.
In one shocking moment, a deck chair can be seen moments before it slammed into a stroller
A moment later, the stroller was on the floor – thankfully a parent was carrying the child at the time
An announcement was then heard over the loudspeaker calling for assistance.
It’s not unusual in summer months for such storms to arrive on Florida shores, but this one seemed particularly violent on what was a cloudy day making it harder to see than if there had been blue sky separating the powerful storm clouds.
The cruise line released a statement regarding the frightening situation:
‘On Friday, June 16, while departing from Port Canaveral, Independence of the Seas encountered a sudden gust of high winds. This lasted for a brief period and there were no serious injuries to our guests or crew.’
The ship continued ‘its regularly scheduled three-night itinerary,’ arriving to Perfect Day at CocoCay in the Bahamas, on Saturday morning.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
