Two weeks ago, Hurricane Helene “spared” the Tampa Bay region a direct hit and yet storm surge still caused catastrophic damage, flooding homes, drowning people who decided to stay near the coast and leaving massive piles of debris that still sit along roadsides.

Less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene flooded Tampa Bay with record storm surge, Milton is poised to up the ante. The most recent forecasts predict up to 10 to 15 feet of flooding above ground in parts of the region – up from an earlier prediction 8 to 12 feet,

Helene was never predicted to hit Tampa — it’s eye made landfall 180 miles north. But at more than 200-miles wide and winds whipping at nearly 140 mph near its core, it created surges that hit all along the Florida peninsula’s Gulf Coast. Most weren’t deadly, but on Pinellas’ barrier islands, the water wall came from all directions.