With Milton almost one week in the rearview mirror, its lessons are coming into focus. Here are four. Ahead of Hurricane Milton, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor was as blunt as she’s ever been. “If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re going to die,” she told a CNN anchor in comments that quickly went viral.

A hurricane’s winds blow counterclockwise, and with Milton passing south of Tampa Bay, winds to the north of the storm are blowing in from the east, pushing water away from the shoreline.