Complex sentence: Shortly before all crew members were going to abandon ship, the eye of Typhoon Gay passed over and winds fluctuated violently and changed direction, preventing the ship from remaining stabilized despite being within safe operating limits.
Split into simpler sentences: Shortly before all crew members were going to abandon ship, the eye of Typhoon Gay passed over. Winds fluctuated violently and changed direction, preventing the ship from remaining stabilized despite being within safe operating limits.