LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB Fox 41)---A sinking ship, full of thousands of passengers scrambling for safety, sounds like the Titanic, but on Friday evening it was all taking place on the luxury cruise liner Costa Concordia.
"Where we were standing is actually under water right now, so obviously we needed to get off right then," says Justin Baines, a passenger on the Costa Concordia.
The ship was carrying more than 4,200 passengers when it struck rocks off the coast of Italy.
"It's unimaginable that she's 4,000 miles away and you can't do anything," says Joyce Powell, from Eminence, Kentucky.
On board, was Joyce Powell's 24-year-old daughter, Jordan Powell, a current Louisville resident.
Powell first heard from her daughter, before she saw the news on TV.
"She said 'Momma, I wanted to call and let you know that I'm safe. We're all safe. We're on land. Our cruise ship has hit something, wrecked, and is sinking'," says Joyce Powell.
Jordan was with her boyfriend Nick Hope, also a Louisville resident, and several friends.
"They were at dinner and she said 'Mom, all of a sudden things started going sideways'," says Joyce Powell.
There are reports people were jumping from the ship and into the water. Helicopters rescued others. Jordan and her friends, and thousands of others, were taken by lifeboats to a nearby island.
"One of the boats was full of 200 people and tipped sideways and the lifeboat tipped sideways and then fell and swung. Everybody screaming," says Mark Plath, a passenger on the Costa Concordia.
"You think this, but you don't think it will happen, but it did. It felt like a dream," says Joyce Powell.
While the U.S. Embassy has contacted the group of friends, and is helping them, there isn't much they'll be arriving home with.
They did manage to leave the sinking ship with cash and credit cards.
Joyce Powell and her husband say, in the end, none of that matters.
"The material things don't matter at all. Just get them home, and get them home safe," says Joyce Powell.
As for that group of friends from Kentucky, we are told the U.S. Embassy has helped them with flights home.
They are expected to fly out of Rome on Sunday to head back to Louisville.
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