Due to something known as a “negative surge,” Hurricane Irma was so intensely powerful it sucked the ocean away from beaches in both the Bahamas and Florida. Shocked residents in both Long Island in the Bahamas and Naples, Florida, posted videos to social media to clearly show the water was gone and a long stretch of empty sand was in its place. Tampa Bay was also hit by the phenomenon. Since then more videos have been released to show the ocean is now back where it belongs in both locations.

Videos go viral of the ‘missing’ ocean and endless sand

After videos appeared showing footage of the Bahamas, the National Weather Service confirmed on Sunday that it had also happened in Naples, Florida. There were also videos shared of what is dubbed the “negative surge” happening in Tampa Bay.

The Washington Post’s deputy weather editor, Angela Fritz went on to confirm the strange phenomenon is not only real but can particularly occur with very powerful hurricanes like Irma. Fritz wrote that when the storm is that powerful, it can literally change the shape of an ocean for a while.

She went on to explain that Hurricane Irma is so powerful that it is sucking water from the surrounding area and taking it into the core of the storm. Once in the center, where the pressure is extremely low, the water is then drawn upward, like a sucking mechanism, pulling it away from the ocean and can lead to a bulge of water under the storm’s center.

What goes up must come down

Experts warned residents in both Exuma and Long Island in the Bahamas of the dangers when the water returns. As reported by the Huffington Post, Wayne Neely, a weather forecaster working with the Department of Meteorology in the Bahamas, told residents to take care while the ocean surged back to its normal levels.

Neely posted on Facebook to say in cases like this, the water can often return with an even greater fury. The National Weather Service also warned of the dangers.

As can be seen from the two videos below, Bahamas residents who watched the water recede on Friday said the ocean came back the next day. The videos were taken from the same position at the Bight on Long Island.

Before video:

After video:

Many readers are probably thinking what the writer is right now. What about all the marine life which surely didn't survive during this negative surge and the effect on the marine environment?

Irma is now a tropical storm

Earlier this week, Hurricane Irma made its way through the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, devastating several Caribbean Islands before making landfall on Sunday morning in Florida. At least 22 people have died and thousands have been made homeless. As CBS News reports, while Irma has now weakened to a tropical storm, millions of people in Florida are now without power.
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