COULD A KATRINA-LIKE CATASTROPHE OCCUR IN TAMPA BAY? YES!

The St. Petersburg Times looks at how a powerful Catagory 4 hurricane such as Katrina would affect the Tampa Bay area.

Downtown Tampa, Oldsmar, Shore Acres, and Safety Harbor would be underwater. St. Petersburg a virtual island, with many bridges damaged or destroyed.

And while the story doesn't mention it, heavy structual damage even as far inland as Lakeland and Winter Haven.

Two big advantages that Tampa Bay has not found in New Orleans, Biloxi/Gulfport, and elsewhere in much of the affect area:

1) Unlike New Orleans, Tampa Bay is not under sea level.

2) Many of the buildings along the Gulf South coast are historic in nature, built well before stringent building codes became the rule, and many of them were exempt from upgrading.

But don't let that give you a great deal of comfort. Hundreds have likely died as a result of Katrina; any faintly intellegent person here would not want to take that kind of chance in a similar situation. Those that do should be sure to have their estates planned.