Culture

A Surreal Video Shows Hurricane Irma’s Powerful Surge Sucking Water Away From Shorelines In The Bahamas

As Florida braces for Hurricane Irma, which is being described as “the most catastrophic storm in Florida’s history,” the devastating tempest is leaving remarkable meteorological phenomena. As the Washington Post explains, Irma is so strong and pressure is so low, it’s sucking shoreline waters into the storm, leaving beaches extended with shellfish wondering what’s going on and beachgoers in awe.

Many have suggested that this phenomenon bears similarities to the beginnings of a tsunami, but meteorologists have pointed out that pressure is so low in these areas that a tsunami is not possible, and water will eventually return slowly as the storm passes. The low pressure is, in part, what creates the sucking of the shorelines out to sea, so thankfully, these people taking the pictures and videos of these surreal, bare beaches, are safe.


Irma passed over Cuba in the early hours of September 9th, leaving some northern towns underwater, while some Carribean islands haven’t been heard from in days. Irma hit Cuba as a category 5 storm, then slowed to a cat 3 as it entered the Gulf of Mexico, but is expected to increase in power and land in Tampa as a category 4 storm, or possibly stronger.

(Via The Washington Post)