In the midst of the usually busy harbor, the water receded from the bay and formed the eerie view of a vacant basin when Hurricane Ian approached the Tampa Bay region.
Today, with the commencement of the storm surge postponed, authorities cautioned individuals against venturing into the bay, as the waters would return at an even greater elevation than previously.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management tweeted, “presents a risk to life,” and storm surge and rising water levels will affect Charlotte Harbor or Tampa Bay, causing water to recede and not allow walking.
The Tampa Police have shared photos that clearly show clumps of seaweed piled up on the muddy bay floor, stretching out from the coast and indicating lower-than-normal water levels and dry land.
According to a weather specialist from the National Weather Service, this occurrence is known as a “reverse storm surge,” as stated in the Tampa Bay Times.
The land can pull the draining coast out from waters in the opposite direction, creating dangerous storm surges that flood the coast, as strong winds can push the waters towards the land.
This morning, a similar occurrence was also observed south of Tampa in Venice, Florida.
The hurricane is forecasted to cause a rise in ocean levels, with the area around St. Petersburg and Tampa experiencing a surge of up to six feet above normal levels. The hurricane is expected to push back those waters with vengeance.
The storm was originally forecasted to have a much higher surge in the Tampa Bay area, but as it moved south, the peak surge was predicted to be dropped.
Now, as stated by the National Hurricane Centre (NHC), regions located south of Tampa are projected to experience a storm surge reaching an impressive height of 18 ft (5.5 m) at the height of the hurricane, which will give rise to extremely dangerous circumstances.
Anything below high tide levels will be flooded along the shoreline near Port Charlotte, Cape Coral, and Fort Myers.
According to the Times, the hurricane caused a surge of two feet (0.6 m), but it had sufficiently weakened by the time the water would have rushed back, resulting in the removal of large amounts of water from the bay. A comparable phenomenon known as a “reverse storm surge” was observed during Hurricane Irma in 2017.
In numerous locations, evacuation might no more be secure as hurricane circumstances ensue. Authorities have cautioned individuals to get ready or abandon if they reside in susceptible regions. Hurricane Ian has intensified to an almost Category 5 tempest.
The storm, which is the most dangerous hurricane to hit the US mainland this year, smashed into Puerto Rico and caused extensive damage to the country after hitting Fiona Hurricane for the second time in a month.
Hurricane Ian occurred during the current week, as wind energy and copious amounts of precipitation were infused into a tempest by elevated ocean temperatures, intensifying the storm. These types of storms might become increasingly prevalent as the climate emergency escalates.
By Tuesday, the hurricane had escalated from a Category 3 to nearly a Category 5 as it approached the coast.
The United Nations climate science panel has found that the percentage of tropical cyclones reaching Category 3 or higher has been increasing over the past 40 years.