Dramatic footage has captured sick passengers being evacuated from the luxury liner in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean as the cruise ship ran aground several miles off the coast of Florida as it awaited Hurricane Milton.
The Sun Princess was forced to turn around before entering Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, ahead of its grand arrival at its “winter homeport.”
A “dangerous” Category 5 hurricane is hitting Florida's west coast, and the eastern part of the state is preparing for the storm to reach the Atlantic coast.
In preparation, the U.S. Coast Guard on Monday raised Port Everglades to “yankee” port status, indicating high winds are expected within the next 24 hours.
Unfortunately for vacationers, the brand new boat was unable to reach its destination as all anchored vessels were forced to leave the port and incoming vessels were prohibited from entering the port.
“Due to the hurricane, Port Everglades, where the ship is anchored, is closed and the ship is stranded eight miles off the coast of Florida due to the storm,” Ben Barry told SWNS.
The sick travelers on board the Sun Princess were flown back to the U.S. mainland, but it is unclear where they were taken as much of the Florida peninsula remains under evacuations and curfews. It hasn't become.
The Sun Princess departed on September 14th on a 25-day one-way trip from Barcelona, Spain to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and was scheduled to arrive in port on October 9th.
The ship is currently in waters between the Bahamas and Cuba. According to Cruise Mapper.
The newspaper contacted Princess Cruises.
Hurricane Milton remained a Category 5 storm as it barreled toward the coast of west-central Florida, heading northeast at 19 miles per hour.
Follow The Post's latest coverage of Hurricane Milton.
The storm is expected to make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday and could bring devastating storm surge 10 to 15 feet high to some areas, including Tampa, and dump 6 to 12 inches of rain. It is expected that
As of 5 a.m. Wednesday, it was about 300 miles from Tampa, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Milton strengthened Tuesday after weakening slightly from one of the most powerful Category 5 storms on record. By evening, winds had increased to 160 mph and the storm had returned to Category 5 strength.
Authorities have begged and warned residents of evacuation zones to leave.
“If you choose to stay here… you're going to die,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor bluntly told CNN as a “literally catastrophic” hurricane hurtles towards the Sunshine State. he added.
Despite the warnings, Charlotte Farrell, 80, of Ruskin, off Cockroach Bay, told the Post she wasn't going anywhere.
“Everyone says I should go to a shelter for this child, but my son says he needs to. I haven't decided yet. I'm not leaving town, this is where I am. But if you want to evacuate to a middle school, you can decide later if you want to go there,” he said, referring to Seals Middle School, which has been designated as an evacuation center.
“Yesterday, the police went door to door and told us to leave, mainly because this is a trailer and we are in a flood zone. They said it was mandatory. But if we don't, we're responsible for what happens to us.”
