The path of the storm out in the gulf, Tropical Depression Nine, jogged a bit north Tuesday, but officials in the Tampa Bay area still warn that heavy rain and winds could hit the region Wednesday and Thursday — mostly Thursday, when the storm is expected to make landfall somewhere between the mouth of the Anclote River and the state's Big Bend region.
"This storm is an uncertainty, but we are preparing for it as is it was an inevitability," Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said at a press conference Tuesday.
Hillsborough County Schools have yet to determine whether they'll be closed Thursday, said Tampa Fire & Rescue Chief Tim Forward.
Governor Rick Scott came to Tampa Tuesday afternoon, where he warned of five to ten inches of rain over Wednesday and Thursday as well as the potential spread of the Zika virus due to standing water in the storm's wake.
At the Tampa press conference, Buckhorn advised the city's residents to exercise caution when driving during the event.
"We can't stress this enough: the best thing people can do is, just, don't be stupid," Buckhorn said. "Do not drive through standing water, use common sense, if you can avoid the areas that we know are low-lying and tend to flood, just find a different location. Don't think that your vehicle will get through standing water, because I can promise you that you'll regret it and it'll be expensive."
St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman also held a press conference.
He advised residents to restrict water-heavy activities during the storm like running the dishwasher to reduce strain on the city's notoriously overburdened wastewater system, and instead do those things before or a couple of days after the storm.
"The less you're using your water during the storm, the less comes into our system," he said.
Both cities are making sandbags available ahead of the storm to fend off flooding.
For more info on the storm's track, check out the National Hurricane Center's website.
This article appears in Aug 25 – Sep 1, 2016.