Because the Sept. 26 storm surge was unprecedented, many people living near the beaches ignored mandatory evacuation orders and stayed behind, thinking the warnings were exaggerated.

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.