Granted, Hurricane Ike, that Mills described, was 20 feet of storm surge that went in 25 miles. A hurricane that hit Tampa in 1848 did bring 15 feet of storm surge and all of downtown had water. The storm is forecast to make landfall in Florida Wednesday night as a "dangerous major hurricane," according to the National Hurricane Center.

Hurricane Milton 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

Milton could thrust 15 feet of surge across parts of Florida’s coast between Fort Myers Beach and Crystal River before crossing the state and bringing up to 5 feet of surge to parts of the east coast.