'A little bit of a sigh of relief'published at 07:16 British Summer Time 11 September 2017
Stephanie Colombini, a reporter for WUSF radio in Florida, told the BBC that low-lying Tampa and St Petersburg may have escaped the worst of the winds - which in turn may mean the storm surge has been less damaging. "There has been a little bit of a sigh of relief right now... but emergency officials keep warning that it's not over yet," Colombini told BBC Newsday.