Is Sarasota 'Overdue' for Hurricane?

Meteorologists at the Weather Channel have released a Top 10 list identifying cities and regions in the U.S. that are "most vulnerable" and "overdue" for a hurricane.

The Tampa metropolitan region is the undisputed champ at No. 1. The Weather Channel included Sarasota, St. Petersburg and Clearwater in its description of the area, noting the populous cities. Forecasters say a large-scale evacuation before a major hurricane would be a traffic nightmare.

Placing second was Naples, and third was Jacksonville. To see the full Top 10 list, read the Weather Channel story.

Meteorologists looked at:

• Statistics from all major cities on or near the coast;
• Storm surge;
• Evacuation time;
• Population;
• Number of years since an area or city had been hit by a bad storm.

The last major hurricane to hit the Tampa metropolitan area was back in 1921, and that storm caused millions of dollars in damage.

The Weather Channel notes that the population has swelled since then, and the evacuation time if a Cat 5 storm hit would be 68 hours.

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