Hurricane Stephan (2023)

Meteorological History
The origins of Hurricane Stephan were from a tropical wave off the western coast of Africa on August 1st 2023. The tropical wave moved west quickly across the Atlantic Ocean until it arrived south of La Española where it became a tropical depression on August 3rd 2023. It quickly started moving west and intensified in the extremely warm waters where it striked the west side of Cuba as a category 4 hurricane on August 5th 2023.

Hurricane Stephan then moved North-North-West and stalled in the extremely warm 110°F waters in the Gulf of Mexico where it's pressure dropped transforming it into a Category 6 hurricane with 204 mile per hour winds. Hurricane Stepahan also greatly increased in size with tropical storm force winds being felt as far away as coastal Mississippi.

Hurricane Stephan then started drifting slowly towards the North-East where it eventually made a direct hit to Indian Rocks beach striking Tampa Bay as a Category 6 Hurricane on August 8th 2023 at 3am.

After stalling over the Tampa Bay area for more than 48 hours, the Hurricane then tracked north and north-west passing through Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois at record fast forward-velocity of 50 miles per hour.

Hurricane Stephan managed to withhold hurricane force winds far inland after making landfall due to the saturation of the ground due to torrential rainfalls which occurred across the United States for weeks before Hurricane Stephan formed.

It had transformed into an Extra-Tropical Cyclone after reaching southern Indiana but it still had hurricane force wind speeds of 118 miles per hour. Hurricane Stephan continued moving North-North-West at a forward-velocity of 57 miles per hour, a record breaking speed for hurricanes.

On August 13th 2023 at 12:07am, Hurricane Stephan arrived in the Milwaukee-metro area of Wisconsin as a category 3 Extra-tropical Hurricane, with wind speeds of 112 miles per hour, where it stalled again for 72 hours until it weakened and quickly began moving north-west until it dissipated 30 miles west of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Cuba
Hurricane warnings were immediately issued for western Cuba on August 4th 2023. Convoy buses assisted thousands or residents residing in Western Cuba to shelters in the Eastern side of the island out of harms way.

USA
Hurricane warnings were Issued for Coastal Alabama, Costal Mississippi, and western Florida on August 5th 2023 as Hurricane Stephan striked Cuba as a category 4, but many citizens ignored the warnings. All western coastal counties from Dixie to Monroe were declared states of emergency. Mandatory evacuations were issued for Charlotte county, Sarasota county, Manatee county, Hillsborough county, Pinellas County, Pasco County, Hernando county, and Citrus county, Yet a large majority of the residents in the vicinity of the Tampa bay area DID NOT evacuate. They instead hunkered down in their homes with batteries and supplies.

Due to the fact that Tampa Bay had not been hit directly by a hurricane in over 100 years, it was widely believed that it was impossible for a major hurricane to make a direct strike onto the Tampa Bay area. Yet many schools and businesses were still closed due to the stormy weather, but very few people evacuated.

It is estimated that out of 3,091,399 population of the Tampa Bay metro area, only 693,494 had decided to evacuate before Hurricane Stephan made landfall, living many civilizations in harms way...

Cuba
Hurricane Stephan made landfall in Cuba as a category 4 hurricane on August 5th 2023 killing 25 people on the island by intense storm surge and high winds. The storm also knocked out power in many towns on the west side of Cuba for 3 weeks.

Florida
Hurricane Stephan stalled over the Gulf of Mexico off the west coast of Florida where it had absorbed moisture from the warm waters and leveled up in intensity! It then made land fall in Pinellas county, Florida a Category 6 Hurricane on August 8th 2023 at 3am.

The Hurricane stalled over the Tampa Bay area for more than 48 hours with 209 mile per hour winds speeds which caused cataclysmic damage to Sarasota, Manatee, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, and Citrus counties. The storm also hit at high-tide bringing in a 40+ foot storm surge into the counties surrounding Tampa Bay. The entire peninsula of Pinellas County was submerged in over 10 feet of water! Hillsborough county and Pinellas County received the brunt of major damage with 3,483 people being killed in Pinellas County and 6,872 people being killed in Hillsborough county. Over 4,000 people were missing in the aftermath of the storm and over 2,000,000+ people were displaced.

Rescue workers were unable to assist the victims in the area while the storm stalled over Tampa bay. After stalling over the area, the storm rapidly traveled north with category 5 hurricane force winds speeds but only causing moderate damage to areas due to it's fast forward-velocity.

Georgia-Illinois
Hurricane Stephan kept it's hurricane force winds as it moved inland, yet only causing moderate damage. Many people along it's path were killed and dozens of tornadoes were spawned as well. Power outages, structural damage, deaths, and mild flooding were reported in several areas too.

Wisconsin
Hurricane Stephan arrived in the Milwaukee-metro area of Wisconsin as a category 3 Extra-tropical Hurricane on August 13th 2023 at 12:07am. The residents of the area were taken by surprise. The Extra-Tropical cyclone still retained category 3 hurricane force winds causing catestropic damage to Racine County, Waukesha County, Walworth County, Milwaukee County, Washington County, Dodge County, and Ozaukee county, with Waukesha county and Milwaukee County receiving the brunt of the damage!

A 23 foot storm surge out of lake Michigan engulfed several miles inland of Milwaukee County. Hurricane Stephan also dropped 115 inches of rainwater in the area. Millions of homes were destroyed and catastrophic inland flooding occurred in Waukesha county killing more than 50,000+ residents and killing more than 300,000+ residents in Milwaukee county. It is estimated that 954,847 people died in Wisconsin from the remnants of Hurricane Stephan, and over 80,000+ were reported missing and were never accounted for to this day.

After stalling over the Milwaukee-metro area, the hurricane rapidly tracked north-west, loosing strength until it dissipated 30 miles west of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Power outages were also reported in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ontario, and Manitoba as the storm traveled it's track.

DEATH TOLL
Cuba: 25

Florida: 89,196

Georgia: 65

Alabama: 43

Mississippi: 2

Tennessee: 11

Kentucky: 8

Indiana: 3

Illinois: 72

Wisconsin: 954,847

Minnesota: 3

Aftermath
With a death toll of over 1,044,275 and thousands of missing people still unaccounted for, Hurricane Stephan was considered an apocalyptic disaster. It called the attention to many scientist to help research and discover methods to reverse global warming. Millions of people moved out of Florida further inland into the USA due to the fear of being affected by another hurricane.

Hurricane Stephan was considered the deadliest natrual disaster in American history before it was surpassed by Hurricane Winko which struck California in Fall of 2026....

& the Tampa Bay sub on reddit was forever silenced ;) :P