Hurricane Milton: Cruise ship passengers stranded off Florida coast airlifted to safety

Shocking images showed passengers onboard a cruise ship being airlifted to safety in a desperate bid to escape Hurricane Milton.

Holidaymakers on the Sun Princess cruise ship were filmed being rescued on Tuesday. It comes after they spent 16 days onboard after departing from Southampton, England, on September 23. Terrified Brits were due to dock in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, today (Wednesday), but due to the Category 5 , it was pushed forward.

According to reports, the passengers had fallen sick and were being taken away by a helicopter. The holidaymakers were set to depart from the ship at Port Everglades, but the port was closed due to the . It is unclear where the passengers landed after being picked up by the helicopter.

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It comes as Floridians have been told to brace themselves for the fierce which is travelling at winds of up to 175mph (281km/h). Tampa's mayor issued a stark warning to people who wanted to stay in the city, and said, "If you’re in it, basically, that’s the coffin that you’re in."

Jane Castor told CNN: "I can say this without any dramatisation whatsoever: if you choose to stay in one of those 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."

President also issued an alert as he urged people to evacuate. He said: "If you’re under evacuation or orders, you should evacuate now, now, now. You should have already evacuated. It’s a matter of life and death." He continued: "This could be the worst to hit Florida in over a century. God willing, it won’t be, but that’s what it’s looking like right now."

It comes as mandatory evacuation orders were issued across 11 Florida counties with a combined population of about 5.9 million people, according to US Census Bureau estimates. Officials have warned that anyone staying behind must fend for themselves, as first responders are not expected to risk their lives attempting rescues at the height of the storm.

State and local governments scrambled ahead of the to remove piles of debris left in Helene’s wake, fearing that the oncoming hurricane would turn loose wreckage into flying missiles. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the state deployed over 300 dump trucks that had removed 1,300 loads of debris.

In , authorities in the state of Yucatan reported minor damage from Milton as it passed just offshore. Power lines, street lights and trees were knocked down near the coast, and some small thatched-roof structures were destroyed, Yucatan Governor Joaquin Diaz said. He did not report any deaths or injuries.