Tampa Bay’s water has been sucked away by Hurricane Irma, as it churns up along the western Florida coast on Sunday.
The winds from Irma pushed the water from the bay, leaving behind near-dry land, Fox News reported.
“The worrisome part will be later when the winds start pushing the water back,” Fox News senior meteorologist Janice Dean was quoted as saying.
It’s unclear when the water will return, experts have warned.
Tampa Bay is slated to get hit by Irma sometime on Sunday afternoon or evening.
The same phenomenon was spotted by a Twitter user in the Bahamas, showing the ocean floor totally exposed near Long Island.
Twitter user @Kaydi_K shared a video from the Bahamas on Saturday.
“I am in disbelief right now…” she wrote. “This is Long Island, Bahamas and the ocean water is missing!!!”
(@deejayeasya/Twitter screenshot)Mayor Bob Buckhorn issued a strong warning to residents.
“We are about to get punched in the face by this storm. We need to be prepared,” Buckhorn said, according to media reports.
Florida Power and Light reported that more than 1.6 million homes and businesses are now without power, Reuters reported.
Officials have been warning about the storm’s storm surge potential, which is already being felt in downtown Miami. Irma might bring floods of up to 15 feet along the western Gulf Coast, according to the National Hurricane Center and state officials.
“There is a serious threat of significant storm surge flooding along the entire west coast of Florida,” Governor Rick Scott told a press conference, per Reuters. “This is a life-threatening situation.”
The NHC says the storm’s eye will move near or over the west coast of the state later on Sunday.
President Donald Trump talked to the governors of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee on Sunday and issued a declaration of disaster for the U.S. commonwealth of Puerto Rico, according to the White House.
Reuters contributed to this report.
