In August, the National Weather Service issued its first-ever storm surge warning for parts of the Florida Gulf coast in advance of a tropical storm. Storm surge is caused when strong winds push surface water to the shoreline where it can cause tremendous destruction and risk to life. More than 180 deaths were attributed to storm surge from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The NWS storm surge early warning/watch system is expected to be fully operational in 2017. Read more here:

The National Weather Service just issued its first storm surge warning