Perth mates stuck on ship with Hurricane Irma on one side and an earthquake on the other
Two Australian friends are being forced to wait it out after they've become stuck in between one of the most fierce hurricanes the world has ever seen and a deadly earthquake that has triggered tsunami warnings.
Kyle Preece, 24, and Jason Tabrum, 26, both from Perth, were on board the Carnival Victory between Miami and Mexico.
It didn't take long for the pair to realise how dangerous Hurricane Irma it is when they arrived back in Miami, PerthNow reports.
They had to make a decision, and quickly - to try to make their flight to Las Vegas which would have likely been cancelled and then be stuck in Miami where emergency shelters are full or get back onto the ship.
After deciding to get back on the ship, the pair are now sailing towards Mexico and beyond to wait out the wild weather.
"We are roughly tracking a day ahead of the hurricane, we are headed past Mexico at this rate however Mexico just had its largest earthquake in a century and are at risk of tsunami, the coast is also being evacuated. We are not sure when we will return to Miami for the aftermath, but we will not be docking anywhere and are stuck on the boat for days,” Mr Preece told PerthNow.
There were about 2700 passengers on board the ship which has now diminished to around 200 to 300, Mr Preece said.
The pair, originally from New Zealand, say they haven't stopped watching the updates on both natural disasters.
“It’s pretty full-on stuff... it’s going to rip through (Florida) pretty badly by the sounds of it,” Mr Preece said.
“It will be interesting to see what happens to Miami when we get back. It could be horrible."
The duo have no idea when they'll be allowed off the ship and have been told they may have to stay on it until next Tuesday at the earliest.
“It’s definitely going to be an experience I don’t think we’ll ever forget, but it’s not great timing (for a holiday). It’s just unfortunate really," Mr Preece said.
“I think we’re going to be well and truly a long way from it, which is why we got back on the boat... you wouldn’t want to be staying in Florida that’s for sure,” he said.
The monstrous Irma, the most powerful Atlantic Ocean hurricane ever, is expected to hit southern Florida in the early afternoon on Sunday, with the category five, 130km-wide storm packing winds up to 257km/h.
