As the year ends, I realize I left something out of my yearly wrap-up: The hurricanes. The Tampa Bay region had gone about 100 years since the last direct hit from a major hurricane. That streak ended this year. We had three hurricanes affect us in three different ways.
Hurricane Debby passed about 100 miles offshore on its way to the Big Bend region of Florida, but it dumped almost a foot of rain on us as it passed. Hurricane Helene, also on its way to the Big Bend region, pushed a 7-foot storm surge into Pinellas and Hillsborough, flooding many on the coast and in Pinellas County. Then Hurricane Milton hit just south of us and tracked up through Hillsborough County as a category 3 hurricane, with the eye wall passing about 3-5 miles from our house. The three storms acted as the three Fates, individually bringing us rain, storm surge, and wind. Any one of them could have been the thing that had the biggest impact on our year.
The fact that the storms didn’t immediately come to mind when thinking of the past year is a testament to just how lucky we were. We know a few people who lost practically everything in hurricane Helene. In the short drive from the main road outside our development to our house, we pass by seven houses that still have tarps on their roofs from Hurricane Milton. The worst that happened to us was a tiny bit of soffit damage (already fixed) and we were out of power for five days. In the face of all of that loss, being uncomfortable for five days isn’t really worth mentioning, and so I didn’t think about it for the end-of-year wrap.
So here’s to hoping that those more seriously affected can get back on their feet soon, and that we go another 100 years or so before having to deal with that again.
Hope you have a good 2025.