Will Tampa Be The Next New Orleans?

With New Orleans set to take years to recover from Hurricane Katrina, experts are already trying to determine where the next devastating storm will strike.

After simulating landfall of a Category 3 storm, Dr. Robert Weisberg, professor and physical oceanographer at the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science, concludes that the Tampa Bay metro area faces a serious risk.

"New Orleans had long topped emergency planners' list of nightmare targets for a major hurricane because of its setting: at and below sea level near the storm-prone mouth of the Mississippi River. But Tampa isn't far behind when such factors are considered."

In the event of a storm, Weisberg predicts that "flooding would extend to middle of Pinellas County, a peninsula that is home to nearly 1 million people, inundating land between St. Petersburg and Clearwater."

The Port of Tampa, "Florida's largest and the entry point for much of the state's gasoline - would close. Tourism, which is worth more than $9 billion annually in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties alone, would come to a halt. And 40,000 students at Tampa-based USF would be shut out of classes."