Shocking footage shows cruise ship passengers running to safety after a freak storm hit the vessel sending furniture flying all over the place.
The Royal Caribbean cruise ship was blasted by some pretty severe-looking gusts of wind as it prepared to leave a Florida port.
The Independence of the Seas was all set to embark on a voyage from Port Canaveral to the Bahamas earlier this month (16 June) when the stormy weather slammed the mammoth 15-deck, 1,112-foot-long vessel. Take a look:
One passenger caught the whole ordeal on film and has since posted it to TikTok where it has gone viral after clocking up over four million views on the platform.
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The TikTok user, Lucas Sparrow, captioned the short clip: "Just a fun evening leaving Port Canaveral this past Friday.
"No announcement from the captain before or after, also no mention of what happened. Just pretend like it didnt happen I guess."
In the video, deck chairs and umbrellas can be seen being hurled across the vessel as passengers run for safety from the violent winds.
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Some passengers were even thrown across the walkways while others clutched at the railings to keep sliding away.
Worried onlookers can be heard saying 'oh my God' in sheer shock at the dramatic situation.
The footage was also posted to Twitter under an account with the same name with the caption: "Instead of telling people to come up to the top deck when we have a severe thunderstorm warning, maybe you should be more worried about your guests and employees and tell them to get inside."
And that wasn't the only footage that captured the harrowing moment.
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Jenn Stancil, who captured a video of the storm making its way toward the cruise ship, told Fox 35 Orlando: "It just turned crazy.
"It looked like a scene from the movie 'Twister' is exactly what I thought, because you see these chairs flying up in the air."
A local photographer, Jerry Pike, who was watching from afar when the storm broke also shared a video of the storm.
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"This is my view of Independence of the Seas as she started to get battered by the heavy winds whilst mid-spin attempting to turn around to leave the port," he tweeted.
Pike added: "You can see the rain line pushing towards us, and the Indy was completely gone from view due to the rain shortly after this."
Following the incident, many have expressed concerns about how Royal Caribbean handled the situation.
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Kyleigh Cole, an agent with Boardwalk Travel Agency, told Fox 35: "There’s always something you can do, other than just letting the guests and the travellers getting poured on, rained down on and being in the middle of a storm.
"This could have ruined somebody’s cruise experience where they’ll never take another cruise again."
Royal Caribbean has since told UNILAD: "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 statement continued: "Independence of the Seas continued its regularly scheduled 3-night itinerary, arriving to Perfect Day at CocoCay in The Bahamas, on Saturday morning, as scheduled."
Topics: Travel, US News, Weather, World News, Royal Caribbean
Rhiannon Ingle