by: Alma Angeles (Eagle News Service)

You can just tell that the forces of nature are at work.

Just hours before Hurricane Ian flogged Florida, water was sucked away from beaches along the coast . What was left was the ocean’s sandy and barren bottom.

The phenomenon is called a Negative Storm Surge (reverse storm surge) — also known as a blowout tide.

This happens when offshore hurricane winds push water from the coast, leaving beaches barren.

Blowout tides are the opposite of storm surges, which fiercely pushes water over the shore.

A hurricane’s winds blow counterclockwise, and with Ian passing south of Tampa Bay, winds to the north of the storm are blowing in from the east, pushing water away from the shoreline, said Christopher Slocum, a scientist with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.

People tend to let their guard down when they see the water receding. thinking that their risk is lower. It can give a false sense of security but the water can rush back in so quickly when the winds change direction.

Many residents may be tempted to stroll across an empty sand bed and pick up shells from what used to be an ocean, but experts warn this is dangerous.

If the wind were to abruptly cease or shift, the water could return to Tampa Bay in force, surging above normal high water levels, said Kerry A. Emanuel, a meteorologist and hurricane expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

 Eagle News Service