Flooding will get worse in Tampa Bay. Tropical Storm Eta showed how.
It was only a tropical storm.
In November 2020, Eta’s eye brushed by Tampa Bay, winds blowing about 70 mph offshore.
The storm sent waves crashing onto the Howard Frankland Bridge, flooded thousands of properties and caused millions of dollars in damage, stunning people who expected a soft blow.
Within a generation, the toll could be much worse. Eta, hitting as tides peaked, was a preview of the way sea level rise around Tampa Bay will make even weak storms more destructive.
The Tampa Bay Times, in a first-of-its-kind partnership with the National Hurricane Center, sought to measure how much. The results are daunting.
