Ocean Water Disappears In Bahamas After Irma, See Unbelievable Images
Ocean water in the Bahamas disappeared on the beach as far as the eye could see after Hurricane Irma tore through the region on Friday. Witnesses of the surreal event took videos and photos of the empty ocean floor just off the beach of Long Island, Bahamas. The look is eerily similar to what the ocean does in the instance of a tsunami.
According to the Washington Post, Hurricane Irma is so strong that it’s literally sucking in all of the water from shorelines. It’s a phenomenon so rare that the chances of this type of thing happening are “slim to none.” As the world is finding out, Irma is anything but a normal. It’s a behemoth-sized hurricane upending the Atlantic and decimating everything in its path.
Deputy weather editor and meteorologist, Angela Fritz, reveals that the reason for the water in the Bahamas disappearing is probably due to what she calls a hurricane “bulge.” Pressure at the center of the storm is extremely low, sucking the water upward and into itself. This system changes the shape of the surface of the ocean, Fritz says. Also, the wind was blowing away from the shoreline on Saturday and water will likely fill the empty ocean floor by Sunday afternoon.
Although the Bahamas water disappearing after Irma resembles a sign of a tsunami, Fritz says that’s not the case. The water will return to the Bahamas beach gradually and not rush in.
Water recedes for as far as the eyes can see after Hurricane #Irma leaves Long Island #Bahamas https://t.co/qJGvjrITIO via @Strange_Sounds pic.twitter.com/HeCx6a0PkD
— Strange Sounds (@Strange_Sounds) September 10, 2017
Twitter user @Kaydi_K posted a video Saturday afternoon of the empty ocean in the Bahamas and confirmed that it was “legit.”
“I am in disbelief right now…” Kaydi-K tweeted. “This is Long Island, Bahamas and the ocean water is missing!!!”
See a video of the empty shoreline in Long Island below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=Y7Ks-8eqs4k
Also see photos and video of drainage in Tampa Bay, Florida here.
If water is suddenly drained from a beach, it’s never advised to go exploring because that’s a textbook sign of a tsunami. Water recedes from the shoreline and comes rushing back in forceful waves that flood low-lying coastal areas, explains the Tsunami Information Center. People generally have five minutes to evacuate a beach after the ocean water disappears during a tsunami.
Rare phenomenon sucks water from Bahamas beach in wake of Irma https://t.co/prtydEsaPm
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) September 10, 2017
[Featured Image by apomares/iStock Photos]
