A 2009 simulation imagined what a direct strike from a Category 5 hurricane would do to the Tampa Bay area—and the results were chilling.

Hurricane Milton is weakening slightly but remains a ferocious storm that could land a once-in-a-century direct hit on Tampa and St. Petersburg, engulfing the populous region with towering storm surges and turning debris from Helene’s devastation 12

President Joe Biden warned that Milton could be one of the worst storms to hit Florida in a century and urged residents to leave “now, now, now.”