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Watch Hurricane Florence unleash an epic waterspout

Now a tropical depression, Florence spawned an unreal-looking tower of whirling water.

Amanda Kooser
Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.
Amanda Kooser

Hurricane Florence has been swamping the Carolinas all weekend. The storm also spit out a waterspout that looked like it could whisk Dorothy to the Land of Oz. A Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, resident caught it on video.

Allan Scott shared a stunning video of the waterspout to Twitter Sunday as it ran ashore. You can hear Scott narrating the footage, saying, "Here it goes. Right into the building." 

Florence has been downgraded to a tropical depression, but is still unleashing heavy rains.

Scott tells me he went down to the beach see the surf. He suspected a waterspout crossed his location at the 2nd Ave. Pier and he took cover. When he stepped out, he caught sight of another waterspout and filmed it reaching downtown Myrtle Beach. 

"Damage from the one on video was some high rise condo windows and water intrusion," Scott says. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says tornadic waterspouts "have the same characteristics as a land tornado." They often come along with high winds, hail and lightning. The National Weather Service issues tornado warnings when waterspouts move onto land.

Though many Myrtle Beach residents evacuated ahead of Florence, Scott says he's weathered a few major storms and decided it was safer for him to stay in this particular situation.

Florence is now associated with at least 17 deaths. Thousands of homes and businesses remain without power as rain and flooding continue to impact the storm zone.

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