Dramatic images showed sick passengers being evacuated from a luxury cruise ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, as the huge ship waited “stranded miles” off the coast of Florida. The wrath of Hurricane Milton.
Sun Princess was forced to turn around before landing at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, ahead of her grand arrival to her “winter homeport.”
With a “dangerous” Category 5 hurricane approaching Florida’s west coast, the eastern part of the state is preparing for the storm to reach the Atlantic coast.
In preparation, the U.S. Coast Guard raised Port Everglades to “Port Condition Yankee” on Monday, warning that hurricane-force winds are expected within 24 hours.
Unfortunately for the vacationers, the brand new boat could not reach its destination because all docked ships were forced to leave the port, and incoming ships were banned from entering.
“Due to the storm, Port Everglades – where the ship will dock – is closed and the ship is stranded five miles off the coast of Florida due to the storm,” Ben Barry told SWNS.
Sick passengers aboard the Sun Princess were flown back to the mainland US, but it was unclear where they were taken, while much of the Florida peninsula remains under evacuation and curfew orders.
Sun Princess departed on September 14 on a 25-day, one-way voyage from Barcelona, Spain, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and was scheduled to call in port on October 9.
The ship is currently in the waters between the Bahamas and Cuba. According to CruiseMapper.
The Post has reached out to Princess Cruises.
Hurricane Milton remains a Category 5 hurricane as it moves northeast at 12 mph toward Florida’s west-central coast.
Follow the latest from The Post on Hurricane Milton:
The storm is expected to make landfall late Wednesday night or Thursday morning, bringing 10 to 15 feet of damaging storm surge to some areas, including Tampa, along with 6 to 12 inches of rain.
As of 5 a.m. Wednesday, it was located 300 miles from Tampa, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Milton got a boost on Tuesday after getting a little weak One of the most powerful Category 5 hurricanes on record. By the evening, winds reached 160 mph, bringing the storm back to Category 5 strength.
Officials have appealed and warned residents of the evacuation areas to leave.
“If you choose to stay… you’re going to die,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor told CNN bluntly, saying that a “virtually devastating” major hurricane was headed toward the Sunshine State.
Despite warnings, Charlotte Farrell, 80, of Ruskin, near Cockroach Bay, told The Post That she’s not going anywhere.
“Everyone says I should go to a shelter for this, my son says I need to. I haven’t decided yet. I’m not leaving town, this is my home. But I can decide to go to middle school later if I need shelter there,” she said, referring to Shields Middle School, which has been designated as a shelter.
“The police went door to door yesterday telling us that we should get out because it is a trailer and we are in a flood zone. He said it is mandatory, but if we don’t do it, we are responsible for what happens to us.”
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