MORE STORIES

Frightening moment tropical

microburst batters cruise ship in
Florida turning deckchairs turn
into projectiles as passengers cling
on to railing to avoid being blown
overboard
By James Gordon For Dailymail.com
07:07 25 Jun 2023, updated 08:56 25 Jun 2023

109
shares

121 comments

A torrential storm passed over a cruise

ship docked in Florida with deckchairs
becoming missiles as they were thrown
into the air by the powerful winds

Footage shows passengers aboard the

massive ship struggling to maintain their
footing against the fierce winds as rains
came in like a jet wash

As guests hurried to seek refuge inside,

many realized they were too late, as the
powerful winds pushed them back

Passengers struggled to stand and deckchairs

became dangerous projectiles as they were
blown across the pool deck of a cruise ship
docked in Florida when a torrential storm struck
without warning.

The wild moment onboard Royal Caribbean's

Independence of the Seas occurred before it set
sail for the Caribbean and was captured on a
cellphone by a passenger in the upstairs lounge.

ADVERTISEMENT

The freak storm came as quickly as it went, but it

left a colossal amount of damage in its wake and
sent passengers scrambling for safety.

Top Stories
by Daily Mail

01:00

Footage shows 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

RELATED ARTICLES

'It's too much': Glastonbury

performer asks BBC to remove
footage of her set after being
flooded with 'personal abuse'…
from cruel trolls
Five-year-old boy dies after falling
off 13ft harbour wall in 'tragic
accident' just yards from Rick
Stein's restaurant

Sarah Ferguson thanks hospital

staff who detected her breast
cancer and performed
'successful' operation at King…
Edward VII hospital in London
after
Putin shock diagnosis:
disappears Duchess of
after Wagner
York, 63, is now
coup chaos: recovering
Dictator hides at
from
home
public in Windsor
view since with family
TV address
begging Russians not to back…
armed mutiny against him as he
Many struggledclings to power
to find shelter after
in thebiggest
moments
threat
before the strong to his
winds 23-
and year reign rains
hurricane-like
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

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.

RELATED ARTICLES

Experts spill the tea on T: The ten

signs of low testosterone in men
and what it means for your health,
according to urologists

Blondie's Debbie Harry storms

the stage in edgy all-black as
Stella McCartney and Kate
Hudson look on - but fans all ha…
the same complaint about the
legendary
Don DraperUS singerdown: Jon
settles
Hamm, 52, marries Anna Osceola,
35, at the Big Sur site of the last
ever Mad Men episode she also…
appeared in: Guests included
Larry David and
Glastonbury fansBrooke
believeShields
they
have rumbled one of Elton John's
surprise guests after overhearing
soundcheck

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.

ADVERTISEMENT

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.

Share or comment on this article: Freak storm

hits Royal Caribbean's Independence of the
Seas cruise ship
109
shares

Comments

MOST READ NEWS

How Taylor Swift 'snubbed handwritten Oh I say... It's t

invite from Meghan to appear on her Wimbledon! Ro
Spotify podcast (letting... match for Kate

© Associated Newspapers Ltd

Contact us Mobile apps

View desktop site Advertise with us

Syndication Terms

Privacy & cookies How to complain

Do not sell my info