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WATCH the moment sick passengers are airlifted from a stranded cruise ship off the coast of Florida.
Hurricane Milton is barrelling down on the state causing millions to evacuate and preventing the holiday vessel from docking.
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Sick passengers were airlifted via helicopter from the Sun Princess cruise ship yesterday - which had left Southampton 16 days ago.
The storm was heading directly for the ship which was due to dock in Fort Lauderdale, north of Miami, this morning.
But due to the incoming hurricane, the dock is closed and the Sun Princess was stranded at sea.
The boat has since turned south and is now just north of Cuba, according to CruiseMapper, as it seeks to avoid the monster storm.
Around 6,000 people can be on board the Princess Cruises-operated ship which only began sailing this year.
Hurricane Milton is set to smash Florida within hours bringing with it 160mph wind and 15ft storm surges.
It has already forced 5.5million to evacuate largely through the centre of the state.
Milton is currently 405 miles southwest of Tampa and is expected to cross the Gulf and hit the west of the state on Wednesday night.
The hurricane has brought the state's tourism industry to its knees with cruise ships not able to dock, evacuation orders, and cancelled flights.
Disney World and Universal Studios in Orlando are also set to close in preparation for the storm.
Hurricane Milton intensifies as 165mph storm dubbed ‘worst in a century’ to hit Florida in HOURS
Airlines including TUI, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have cancelled flights into the state as most of the airports are already closed.
Orlando Airport has stopped all operations today with Tampa airport closing at 9am yesterday.
St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport is being transformed into a mandatory evacuation zone after the final flight leaves today.
Ticket prices have also soared with American Airlines and Delta Air Lines increasing the costs of the final few seats by hundred of dollars.
It comes as...
- Hurricane Milton with 160mph winds & 15ft storm surge waves to make direct hit on Florida
- Heartstopping moment fearless boffins are battered by Milton as they fly into eye of the storm
- ‘Price-gouging’ hotels slammed for charging Hurricane Milton evacuees $600 per night
- Publix forced to alter store hours at 500 locations and close some shops entirely
Tampa's mayor has warned those who want to stay in the city that they will die.
Jane Castor told CNN: "I can say this without any dramatization whatsoever: if you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you are going to die.
"This is something that I have never seen in my life, and anyone who was born and raised in the Tampa Bay area has never seen this before."
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the hurricane as a "monster" and warned the damage will be "significant".
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While US President Joe Biden said those staying in their homes were facing "a matter of life and death".
He said: "This could be the worst storm to hit Florida in over a century, and God willing, it won't be, but that's what it's looking like right now."
The government of the Bahamas has also issued a tropical storm warning for the northwestern areas of the island.
Scary footage shows scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) being thrown around the flight.
The aircraft named "Miss Piggy" was collecting data on the hurricane heading towards Tampa on Tuesday morning when the footage was captured.
The fearless boffins bump around the cabin and documents are thrown around as the men are forced to hang on.
Princess Cruises have been approached for comment.
What is a hurricane and how do they form?
A HURRICANE is another name for a tropical cyclone - a powerful storm that forms over warm ocean waters near the equator.
Those arising in the Atlantic or eastern Pacific are called hurricanes, while those in the western Pacific and Indian Ocean are dubbed typhoons or cyclones.
North of the equator they spin anticlockwise because of the rotation of the Earth, however, they turn the opposite way in the southern hemisphere.
Cyclones are like giant weather engines fuelled by water vapor as it evaporates from the sea.
Warm, moist air rises away from the surface, creating a low-pressure system that sucks in air from surrounding areas - which in turn is warmed by the ocean.
As the vapour rises it cools and condenses into swirling bands of cumulonimbus storm clouds.
The system grows and spins faster, sucking in more air and feeding off the energy in seawater that has been warmed by the sun.
At the center, a calm "eye" of the storm is created where cooled air sinks towards the ultra-low pressure zone below, surrounded by spiraling winds of warm air rising.
The faster the wind, the lower the air pressure at the center, and the storm grows stronger and stronger.
Tropical cyclones usually weaken when they hit land as they are no longer fed by evaporation from the warm sea.
But they often move far inland - dumping vast amounts of rain and causing devastating wind damage - before the "fuel" runs out and the storm peters out.
Hurricanes can also cause storm surges when the low air pressure sucks the sea level higher than normal, swamping low-lying coasts.
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English (US) · 