HAMPTON ROADS, Va. (WAVY) — Time and time again, the most destructive and powerful force of a tropical system is the water, and we can use the storm surge from Hurricane Milton in Florida as a way to educate ourselves locally on what that could potentially look like here.

As a reminder, storm surge is the push of water out ahead of a storm system. Think of it as raising the water levels up around us to create a new sea level.

So what would a storm surge from a major hurricane look like here? NOAA has put together a tool online to help gauge that. We highly encourage you to take a look to see how your neighborhood would fair during a significant surge event to help you stay prepared through hurricane season.