A woman celebrating her 55th birthday at Virginia Beach died Wednesday after she was impaled by a windblown beach umbrella, police told FoxNews.com.

Virginia Beach police said the umbrella was anchored in the sand when a strong gust of wind carried it, hitting the 55-year-old woman from the town of Chester. WKTR.com identified the woman as Lottie Belk.

Workers of Sunrise Beach Service tell me it was 1 of these umbrellas that struck/killed woman yday on beach @WTKR3 pic.twitter.com/uwaHB0oEWE — Stefania Okoliè (@StefaniaOkolie) June 9, 2016

Emergency crews responded after receiving a 911 call at about 5 p.m. regarding a woman in cardiac arrest. The woman was impaled in the torso, Tonya Pierce, the police spokeswoman, said.

When medics arrived, they found the woman with a life-threatening injury. The woman was taken to a hospital, where she died.

One witness told WKTR.com that the gusting winds during the incident were reminiscent of the tornado scene in “The Wizard of Oz.”

FoxNews.com' Edmund DeMarche and The Associated Press contributed to this report.