Opinion: The Theory About Tampa and Hurricanes Is Questioned

A Long-Standing Theory Is Back That Supernatural Forces Are Protecting Tampa From Being Hit By A Hurricane. . .Yeah. Watch This.

We're about a week out from having nearly experiencing Hurricane Ian, and the Tiktoks, videos, headlines, and threads have been pretty rampant spreading a long-standing theory that supernatural forces are protecting Tampa Bay from a direct hit of a hurricane.

I know, it sounds wild. And the first time I heard it, I made the "ill" face firstly, because it was such an egotistic tone to the Tiktok video that I watched. While the Bay has once again dodged a major bullet, I found the timing for boasting about missing impact to be in poor taste, especially while Fort Myers and the Southwest coast of Florida are still in disaster relief right now.

The theory, which I've found in headlines and articles dating as far back as 2007, states that Tampa's Native American history may have a protective force that keeps the area safe from hurricanes.

When AccuWeather got a hold of the story, they ran some graphics showing the strength of some notable storms and their exact path taken, and the date sorta adds up. Within a 100-mile radius from Tampa, a storm has not had a direct hit on the Bay area since 1921. This is fact. The closest, however, was Hurricane Frances in 2004, Irma in 2017, and Eta in 2020. While Irma can 100% be considered a direct hit, the theory gets technical by calling out that Irma was only a tropical storm by the time it hit the area.

And technicalities, unfortunately, make for poor theories. The truth is that Irma hit the Bay area with enough force to cause some pretty bad damage to areas like Largo, Clearwater, St. Pete and lower-lying area of Tampa. Again, ignoring damage of your neighbors to position a "supernatural" theory just seems to be in such poor taste, in my opinion.

The Tocobaga tribe occupied the area from about St. Petersburg inland to around the Polk County/Lakeland Area for hundreds of years and are to be credited for naming the area, Tampa, which translates to "Sticks of Fire". Now, obviously, with the frequency of lightning in the area, it's likely that the tribe respected the damage storms here could cause, and did their best to take precaution whenever necessary.

Sometime in the 16th Century, Spanish settlers came to the area. While sites like AccuWeather and ABCAction News may take the high road to say that unfortunate circumstances caused the decline of the Tocobaga tribe, I'm going to remind you all that 16th Century Spaniards were fresh off that Inquisition Action and likely tortured, raped, and absolutely obliterated the tribe. Their rejection of Christianity, and refusal to allow the Spanish to settle in the area was a huge cause for conflict, and as history would tell it, they were wiped out from the area.

And that's where things get a little interesting.

The Spanish tried to settle Tampa, and suffered from illness, death, and lack of resources to survive in the area's riverways, wildlife, and humidity and following their failed settlement, Tampa would sit completely uninhabited for 200 years.

The hurricane theory says that the "supernatural forces" can be credited to a site where a series of burial mounds can be found, and believers of the theory say that the powers that be are to protect these mounds from being washed up or inundated from storm surges and rains.

Many hurricanes have come this way, and they have all made last minute adjustments to their route.

I, however, would love to call bullsh*t on the theory.

Not because of supernatural forces - the Bay Area is actually no stranger to those - but moreso because it's likely the case of a sprinkle of science and a whole lot of luck.

We know for sure that the day will likely come that Tampa gets a direct hit from a (full-blown) hurricane, and when it does it'll be a huge problem. Tampa is listed as one of the most vulnerable areas in the US to flooding. You've seen Kennedy on a rainy day.

The other thing that we do know also, is that unfortunately, Tampa has not had a lot of kind regard for so-called "Native American Burial Grounds". In 2018, developers stumbled across long-lost graves underneath the Amelie Arena's expansion site on Water Street. They were since moved. There have also been a notable amount of Black burial sites found underneath the likes of Robles Park, King High School, and MacDill Air Force Base. Those, too, have since been moved. And by moved, I really mean disturbed.

And it's like it's right out of the script of an old 80's movie: if Tampa Bay has any supernatural forces working in or around it, it's likely not in the favor of protecting the city and its developments from disaster.

As I'm preparing to begin fully writing my own horror novel, HiM: The Bellevue Boogey Man, I can't help but think of curses that may take form in places when there is death or trauma. In the story, the growing city of Bellevue, incorporated in 1951, sees its fair share of a curse born from the murder of a man named Lloyd Bailey. Bailey was a handsome former soldier who returned to the then-named Boggy Creek and became a florist who'd eventually have an affair with the mayor's wife. When the mayor is confronted with this information, he commissions five local husbands to murder Bailey and leaves his body in the bogs outside of the town. Years after this cover up, they rename the town Bellevue and name each of its five districts after these men who carried out the murder.

The residents' ignorance to this dark secret didn't spare them from the curse of this flower-toting, wife-grabbing spirit, and I'm very doubtful that the powers that be - those of the Tocobaga tribe - are working positively.

In fact, I can give evidence that it's not.

Just like the legends of the Buccaneers, pirates, and the likes of the legendary Jose Gaspar (who has never been proven to actually have existed), many ships that entered this area entered through the mouth of Tampa Bay. Fort De Soto, a Spanish outpost, was very likely an outpost to help guide ships into the Bay and that's important to note.

At the mouth of that same Bay stands the tallest bridge in America, standing at 430 feet high: The Sky Way Bridge.

If there's a belief that supernatural forces protect the Bay from storms, then there needs to be a look at the possibility of supernatural forces that have turned the mouth of the Bay - where settlers and pirates entered and exited - into a site riddled with death. Sky Way Bridge remains one of the deadliest sites for suicide attempts. So much so, that the bridge has a website dedicated to logging jumpers and providing details on their survival and/or deaths.

While a recent fence built on the bridge have drastically cut down the amount of suicides that take place on the bridge, as recent as May 2022, there had still been attempts and to jump from the bridge.

The bridge's history is lined with bad news. Whether it's the 316 people who have taken their own life at the bridge or the 1980 bridge collapse that took 35 people's lives, the Sky Way Bridge is a bizarre contrast for the area's claim to fame as the record-holder for the Sunniest Place in America.

On May 9, 1980, a freighter barge trying to navigate the area in fog managed to slam into the Sky Way's predecessor, destroying one side of it with vehicles plummeting into the water. Of the entire ordeal, one person whose truck fell off the bridge survived, and the impact forced the bridge to close for complete repairs.

Fog. In May? Have you ever been in the Bay Area in May - it's the last time of year you'd expect to see fog.

Of course, my stance on all of this is complete speculation from information that I pulled for my Instagram stories back in 2020. But it's a callout and a reminder that credited supernatural forces from the Tocobaga tribe isn't some fun Tiktok trend that we should all share. Despite its longevity and the fact it's come back to the surface, the theory plays ignorant to the damages done to an entire civilization of people and our continued disregard for preserving the good and unique things about the Bay.

But look, I'm not gonna hold you with the Captain Planet speeches. I'm just letting you all know you missed a spot with your supernatural theory. Because if burial mounds are keeping the Bay safe, then it's definitely at the expense of the Sky Way Bridge and a very haunted Ybor City (but that's for another day).

What do you think? Does the hurricane theory hold up for you, or do you think it's another Tiktok theory that falls short? Be sure to comment and share this.

That's some dope history for yo' ass.