Oct. 9 as a Category 3 storm and brought storm surge and floods to much of Florida's southwest coast, but not to Tampa Bay. Milton, like Hurricanes Ian and Irma before it, brought a natural phenomenon with it that dried the bay up instead of flooding it.

Hurricane Milton howled across the Florida Peninsula on Thursday, tearing a path of destruction from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic as it knocked out power to millions, flooded neighborhoods, destroyed homes,