Wild footage shows the moment Florida beachgoers are forced to flee as huge water swirls onto the beach – knocking a woman to the ground
- The waterway landed at Hollywood Beach around 10:30 a.m. Friday
- Live footage shows panicked beach-goers scrambling for cover
- The wild weather moved over the water two to three miles offshore before becoming a hurricane and dissipating moments later
This is the terrifying moment Florida beachgoers are forced to run for cover when a powerful drop of water makes its way onto the beach – with one woman being hit by its force.
The intense vertical vortex descended on Hollywood Beach Friday at about 10:30 a.m. as frightened beachgoers grabbed their belongings and scrambled to safety.
The wild weather moved over ocean waters two to three miles offshore before turning into a hurricane – with high winds slashing through the area, whipping palm trees and sweeping chairs before finally dissipating.
A live feed from Sky10 captured footage of a topless beachgoer running around clutching his belongings, shouting, ‘Yo…! ”. Others shouted frantically, “He’s coming towards us.”
said someone who saw the mess NBC Miami: ‘I’ve never seen that before.’ I’ve been coming here since 1986. I’ve never seen that in my entire life.
The water, an intense vertical whirlpool, descended on Hollywood Beach Friday at about 10:30 a.m. as terrified beachgoers grabbed their belongings and ran for cover.
A woman is seen running across the beach as the water column lashes behind her a few feet away
The spout is seen moving rapidly over the water two to three miles from shore
Weather experts said the water pipe was connected to a cloud created by a group of thunderstorms in the Atlantic Ocean.
Although many beachgoers appeared defeated, no injuries were reported.
Once the weather event had passed, many of the devotees returned to the beach for some rest.
Hours earlier, a separate stream of water broke along Boca Raton Beach around 9:30 a.m. Friday, sending chairs and umbrellas into the air near the Ocean Towers complexes.
Boca Raton is about 29 miles from Hollywood and a little farther south.
Steve Weigel, chief metrics expert WPTV’s first alert Shared shots of the stream coming to shore before it was removed.
The National Weather Service in Miami later confirmed the spout to be a tornado. A tornado warning was issued for Broward County but later removed.
Waterspouts are common along the southeastern coast of the United States, especially off southern Florida and the Keys. They can occur over seas, bays, and lakes and do not usually pick up water to great heights.
According to Britannica, rapidly rotating gusts of air that come into contact with the water’s surface are usually produced by a rapidly growing cumulonimbus cloud.
Water spouts may take various shapes, and often occur in a series, known as the “nozzle family”. This rising air stream is similar to other atmospheric phenomena such as tornadoes, tornadoes, and firestorms.
