4,000-Passenger Cruise Ship Inexplicably Sails Into Atlantic Mega-Storm

Massive storm exploded in intensity just off the Southeast U.S. coast on Sunday afternoon, driving hurricane force winds and whipping waves into a frenzy. And in the middle of this monster storm was a cruise ship on its way to Florida – rocking, roiling and taking a major beating from the most powerful storm we’ve seen in the western Atlantic so far this winter.

A large trough in the jet stream had been pushing toward East Coast late last week. Then the storm deepened rapidly when it hit the warm waters of the Gulf Stream and blew up on satellite imagery. Meteorologists didn’t know what to follow on Sunday night, the Super Bowl or the strengthening storm.

Some compared it to Hurricane Isabel, which was fitting because on Sunday afternoon it was boasting 100 mph winds — the equivalent of a Category 2 hurricane.

Chairs inside the ship toppled as a strong hurricane hit the cruise ship.
Somehow a cruise ship that steered its way into the storm: Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas, a giant vessel which holds over 4,000 passengers. The ship was on its way from the New York City area to Port Canaveral, Florida, when it not only encountered the storm, but really sailed right into the heart of it.

What makes this story so inexplicable is that this storm has been in the forecast for days. Weather can be an uncertain science, but this was the one thing forecasters knew was going to happen early this week.

The passenger said that at the height of the storm, waves were breaking over the tops of the life boats and the whole ship was listing to almost 45 degrees. The passenger said the wind and sea spray made it look like a total white out.

The Coast Guard was aware of the incident, though not because Royal Caribbean contacted them, but because they saw alarmed passengers posting to social media. “After seeing pictures and people’s comments on Twitter and other social media platforms, the USCG contacted the Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas to check in,” spokesman Mark Barney told ABC News. “The ship said that everything was fine, and no distress calls have been issued.

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Source:Ndtv