But it’s less populous than Tampa.
If the damn thing is gonna land somewhere, better fewer people at risk than more.
That’s why I was liking the Big Bend landfall. Now, the best case is south of Naples, but that’s real bad news for Key West. And a few more ticks to the north and east and that’s a possibility.
Tampa is NE of coastal Manatee. There is no Tampa Beach along the GOM. Tampa is on the bay, in a bowl. St. Petersburg borders the Gulf of Mexico, west of Tampa.