Hurricane Milton drains Tampa Bay's water supply.

WFLA / TAMPA, FLA — Hurricane Milton did not provide a significant surge to Tampa Bay as it made landfall, draining the bay of water.
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At roughly 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Milton made landfall close to Siesta Key, Florida, according to the National Hurricane Centre.

Before this, there were worries that Milton may bring a 12-foot storm surge that might be fatal to Tampa and other areas of the bay if it made landfall in Pinellas County.

Rather, water was extracted from the bay. Reporter Brian Entin of NewsNation captured video of the saltwater significantly receding by Bayshore Boulevard.

Entin stated, "The bay's water supply has completely dried up."

It was unknown how much the water had retreated Wednesday night because of how dark it was.


Still, according to Jeff Berardelli, chief meteorologist for Max Defender 8, the top of Tampa Bay had a reverse storm surge of five feet, while the bottom of the bay only experienced two feet of storm surge.



"It demonstrates how near this was to a storm surge disaster for Tampa Bay and the people living in Tampa and St. Petersburg," stated Berardelli. Sadly, Sarasota was struck by lightning, around ten feet away.

Residents were advised not to enter the retreating water as it could rush back into the bay and "pose a life-threatening risk," according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management.


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