Helene was never predicted to hit Tampa. But at more than 200-miles wide and winds whipping at nearly 140 mph near its core, it created surges that hit all along the Florida peninsula’s Gulf

Add it all up, and what its residents intuited is undeniable: Tampa Bay just had its worst hurricane in a century. In living memory, plenty of major hurricanes have threatened this region before decimating other places, and plenty of unassuming tropical storms punched above their weight.

Residents of the booming region are confronting a new reality: Even when storms make landfall far away, their impact is being felt.