All of that will be made worse if Tamba Bay experiences a water level increase of 13 ft. Unlike Harvey, the waters will recede soon after the storm is gone, but it will still leave lasting damage in its wake. Hurricane force winds are also expected to be strong enough to break windows. Any debris the storm creates will end up being carried by the water, creating perilous conditions.
Even though Tampa will face the worst of this storm, hurricane-force winds will affect the entire Florida peninsula. It could also cause major damage to cities like Panama City, which is right on the coast, and Tallahassee, which faced a Category 1 storm last year and did not fully recover for several weeks.
The last time a storm could be felt across the whole state so drastically was Hurricane Cleo in 1964.
