storm sturge

In the days before Hurricane Milton hit Florida, forecasters worried it could send as much as 15 feet of water rushing onto the heavily populated shores of Tampa Bay. Instead, several feet of water temporarily drained away. The phenomenon is sometimes called “reverse storm surge.”

30 years after Hurricane Andrew made landfall in Miami as a Category 5 storm, there are many lessons learned and lessons we are still learning about these powerful storms and the way their impact.

Two years ago when Jennifer Cheek and her husband bought their tidy stucco house near the Little River with a rambling backyard - grand even by Miami…