Shocking footage shows the moment a waterspout made landfall sending beachgoers running and throwing deck chairs and umbrellas around.
The waterspout was first spotted two to three miles offshore before coming ashore when it became a tornado.
As the plume of water hits the land the colour of the swirling air changes as sand starts to get lifted up.
The footage shows deckchairs and umbrellas begin to be thrown around the beach. In an alarming moment the tornado heads towards buildings along the beachfront and the people cowering around them.
At one point a beachgoer is buffeted off their feet.
The drama was filmed at Hollywood Beach, Florida, US, on Friday afternoon.
A tornado warning had been issued shortly before the waterspout moved onshore.
Although smaller objects still get whipped around by the vortex of wind, when it hits the buildings and trees the tornado dissipates.
The video shows a bold or oblivious cyclist pedal right through the flying debris.
The freak weather phenomenon was connected to a group of thunderstorms off the coast.
The waterspout hit land at 12.45 pm and dissipated, National Weather Service officials said.
NWS Miami tweeted: "Additional waterspouts may be possible today as the atmosphere remains conducive.
"Waterspouts can form very quickly and also dissipate quickly as well."
In the wake of the mini-tornado disappearing, witnesses stood around looking in shock.
This came as crews scrambled Thursday to restore power to thousands of residents after tornadoes plowed through Oklahoma during another deadly spring storm.
Three people were killed and dozens of homes damaged.
A day after at least eight tornadoes ripped through the region, Gov. Kevin Stitt said authorities were still assessing the scale of destruction.
“The damage is unbelievable when you walk through there,” Stitt said after touring the city of Shawnee.
Stitt also visited the small town of Cole, where he said two people died and 50 to 100 homes were damaged.
Authorities said a third person who was injured had also died, but it was not immediately clear where that person was injured.
“There are definitely dozens of various injuries, from minor all the way up to fatalities,” said Deputy Sheriff Scott Gibbons of McClain County, the county south of Oklahoma City where Cole is located.
Gibbons told television station KOCO that one victim in McClain County, where Cole is located, is a 66-year-old man.
Deadly storms this spring have killed dozens of people across a wide swath of the country, including one in March that produced tornadoes and killed at least 32 people from Arkansas to Delaware.
Days later, another tornado left five dead in Missouri.
Employees of a pizza restaurant in Shawnee said they took shelter in the walk-in freezer, and when they emerged, parts of the roof and shattered windows littered the parking lot.
