An abnormally warm Gulf allowed Helene to quickly intensify to a Cat 4. Similarly, Milton’s strength swelled from Cat 1 to Cat 5 in just over 24 hours, with the National Hurricane Center calling its intensification “explosive”. Seasoned hurricane expert John Morales started to cry as he described the “horrific” storm on TV.

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,

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.