In the hours before Hurricane Milton hit, forecasters were worried it could send as much as 15 feet (4.5 meters) of water rushing onto the heavily populated shores of Florida's Tampa Bay. Instead, several feet of water temporarily drained away.

Even as some parts of Florida’s western coast were enduring a surge of seawater on Wednesday night, Hurricane Milton’s heavy winds were pushing water out of Tampa Bay. A flood gauge near Tampa showed the water levels fluctuating as Milton approached and then plummeting while the storm’s eye passed to the south — dropping three feet below the level expected on a normal day.