TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Even though the Tampa Bay area is not directly in Hurricane Idalia’s crosshairs, the hurricane is still expected to have some impact on the region.
One major impact people could see is a loss of power due to the hurricane’s winds, as projected on the Max Defender 8 Power Outage Possibilities map.
At about 3 a.m. Wednesday, there could be isolated power outages in Sarasota and Manatee counties. Most areas could see a low to moderate risk of power outage.
By 4 or 5 a.m., Pinellas County will have a moderate chance of power outages. Pasco County will have a low risk.
At 7 a.m., western Hillsborough County, Citrus County, and Hernando County will also see a low risk of power outages. Afterward, there could be a surge of winds that could have a low risk of causing outages in Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, and Hernando Counties.
“This must be as the storm is moving onshore just to the north of us because we see another surge of heavier winds along the coastline in Pasco and Manatee Counties as well, and then we see an inland push of some lower possibilities for some power outages,” Max Defender 8 meteorologist Rebecca Barry said.
Once an outage happens, the length of time it would take to get power back on would depend on how fast crews can get you reconnected.
“If you make it to 5 o 6 a.m. tomorrow morning and you still have power, you’re most likely going to keep power throughout the storm,” Barry said.
While the Tampa Bay area is expected to have some low risks for isolated power outages, the area near landfall is expected to have widespread power outages.
