Tampa — One of the city’s most famous streets, just hours before Hurricane Ian is set to make landfall about 90 miles south, became the site of an impromptu festival early Wednesday afternoon as residents showed up to witness for themselves Something extremely rare: the bottom of the bay.
In a phenomenon reminiscent of Hurricane Irma, Ian’s march along the coast appeared to drain the Tampa Bay water, revealing its swampy, grassy bottom. For the locals who had been stockpiling supplies and weatherproofing their homes the other day, the empty bay offered one last (if risky) chance to frolic before the storm drove them inside.