Video: 3 Children Injured When Waterspout Flips Bounce House

A waterspout that made landfall in the Fort Lauderdale area Monday is being blamed for launching a bounce house into the air, injuring three children in the process.

See video below

The incident unfolded early Monday afternoon on Fort Lauderdale Beach. It seems the bounce house was set up near a basketball court, but the spout managed to come ashore, colliding with the house and lifting it an estimated 20 feet in the air, the Sun-Sentinel is reporting. The house landed about 150 feet away from its original location in a nearby parking lot.

Three children were injured as a result of the occurred, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department tweeted. Two of those children, who are not being identified, have been released from local hospitals after suffering minor fractures, the police department noted. The third is being held overnight for observation.

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It is unclear at this time if the children were in the house when it was launched into the air. The Sun-Sentinel, however, indicates they were. It is also unclear what type of anchors, if any, were used on the house.

Waterspouts are a fairly common sighting in the Tampa Bay area especially this time of year. One waterspout that developed back in 2013 was tracked by Patch readers as it moved through Westchase, Oldsmar and Dunedin before dissipating.

The National Weather Service warns those who encounter waterspouts should avoid contact with them by moving in a 90-degree angle to the spout’s apparent movement. “Never move closer to investigate a waterspout,” the agency warns on its website. “Some can be just as dangerous as tornadoes.”