ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — It’s been over a century since a major storm like Hurricane Ian has struck the Tampa Bay area, which blossomed from a few hundred thousand people in 1921 to more than 3 million today. Many of these people live in low-lying neighborhoods that are highly susceptible to storm surge and flooding they have rarely before experienced, which some experts say could be worsened by the effects of climate change. The problem confronting the region is that storms approaching from the south, as Hurricane Ian is on track to do, push huge volumes of water up into shallow Tampa Bay and are likely to inundate homes and businesses with up to 10 feet of storm surge.
Vulnerable Tampa Bay braces for storm not seen in a century
