Serious Future problem for Tampa

[tampastorm]

I live in Tampa, And I can tell you right now after this, It would be VERY hard to convince anyone that a Hurricane would ever hit Tampa and furthermore have anyone evacuate. All we have heard is this is it for Tampa, and we had nothing more then a little rain and wind. So lets hope there is no storms heading this way soon. Or it can be 100x worse for this reason.

[southerngale]

tampastorm...I would hope that most people there would be thanking God that Charley didn't come to Tampa and not complaining about preparing/evacuating and then getting spared. I really don't understand people like that, but there's plenty of them out there.

You stayed on top of things...you did the right thing. Always better safe than sorry.

[Guest]

Tampastorm, this is concerning since the tropics have come alive. TD # 5 especially is something to keep tabs on. It may become a hurricane early next week.

[clearwater]

There is another side to this -- I live in a non-evac zone in Clearwater. If we had been hit by a Cat 4 or 5 (as opposed to a Cat-2), it's unlikely we would have survived.

I'm wayyyyy more likely to evacuate on the next one than I was on this one.

[joseph01]

Put on your flame retardent suit, and prepare for "You were in the forcast cone!" and " Stop looking at that black line in the forcast track!" LOL

[mf_dolphin]

Tampa Bay dodged a huge bullet this time. If anything this will reinforce my resolve to get even further away the next time we're threatened.

[KBBOCA]

Tampastorm, glad you are safe. I too have trouble understanding that folks are going to be more complacent than before... If places like Sanibel & Captiva are as devasted as I expect them to be... I hope folks in Tampa will think long and hard about that damage and what could have happened. I know a lot more folks in SE Florida became MORE watchful, not less, after Floyd and their close call, and also the "surprise" with Irene. Most everyone I know in the PB County area reported keeping a VERY close eye on Charley even though they were not supposed to be very affected.

I'm thankful Tampa-St. Pete was spared. Think of it as a great (and needed!) hurricane drill. It will make it easier next time!

Tampa's safety is quite an answer to prayer in my book!

[Rainband]

Tampa Bay dodged a huge bullet this time. If anything this will reinforce my resolve to get even further away the next time we're threatened.

Ditto, Tony agrees he was complacent. NOT anymore

[Stephanie]

tampastorm...I would hope that most people there would be thanking God that Charley didn't come to Tampa and not complaining about preparing/evacuating and then getting spared. I really don't understand people like that, but there's plenty of them out there.

You stayed on top of things...you did the right thing. Always better safe than sorry.

I couldn't agree more!

I would hope that the people in the Tampa Bay area would look to their neighbor's situation to the south of them and realize they received a wake-up call.

[FireCracker]

I work in Emergency Services and was manditorily evacuated from Marathon on Wednesday. I believe people are in denial, even my own family believes that since we only had a little wind and rain someone screwed up. Since Marathon was spared most it was a "mistake" to have left. Even though the ramp was full of people talking about the 20 hours to evac the keys in prior years.

I guess one must be trained in disaster situations or have lived through one to take this serious. Again it must be denial. My 2 cents.