Top Stories 2017: Hurricane Irma; Serial Killer; Halladay Crash

Tampa Bay’s top stories of the year included a threatening hurricane that spared much of the Bay Area, a serial killer that terrorized the Seminole Heights neighborhood and a plane crash that took the life of an All-Star pitcher who died in the Gulf near New Port Richey.

No surprise that stories tracking Hurricane Irma were five of the top 10 viewed articles in 2017 as it appeared for several days that the Tampa area was in the crosshairs of the deadly storm. The top viewed article reported on the mandatory evacuation order for Pinellas County residents living in low-lying areas and mobile homes. Patch readers were checking their evacuation zones and shelter locations ahead of the storm that tore through the Caribbean.

Hurricane Irma made landfall at Marco Island about 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 10. The storm had weakened to a Category 2, but still packed maximum sustained winds of 105 mph. The storm shifted to the east and the Tampa area sustained less-than-expected wind damage.

The once monstrous Atlantic storm exited Florida after ravaging the Florida Keys, but mostly sparing the heavily populated Tampa Bay-St Petersburg and Miami-Dade County areas before slugging the First Coast with massive flooding from Jacksonville to St. Augustine.

The deadly 400-mile-wide storm knocked out power to millions of Florida customers as it crept through the state, spawning tornadoes and flooding streets.

Dodging Hurricane Irma

Want to relive Hurricane Irma, the most powerful storm ever recorded in the Atlantic? Here is a story, photos and videos from Sept. 6 in which Gov. Rick Scott warns that Irma "is bigger than our entire state," as Category 5 Irma roars toward the southeastern U.S. The best part of reading earlier stories about a threatening hurricane in Tampa Bay: you know how the story ends.

Hurricane Irma: Evacuations Underway From Florida To The Carolinas

The Terror of Seminole Heights

The Seminole Heights neighborhood was terrorized for 51 days by a serial killer who murdered four innocent people at random within a one-mile area. During those 51 days, the Seminole Heights area was saturated with law enforcement officers searching for the killer. The story became national news.

Gov. Rick Scott directed the Florida Highway Patrol to deploy additional troopers to the Seminole Heights area. The FHP troopers were in addition to the FDLE squad of agents assigned to neighborhood canvassing. The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, along with area law enforcement agencies, also assisted in the investigation. A Crime Stoppers reward rose to $110,000.

During the investigation, Tampa police released a video of a "person of interest" who later became a suspect in the slayings. Police received more than 5,000 tips. Seminole Heights residents were shaken by the random shootings. Residents stopped going for walks alone and school children were escorted to their bus stops by police officers.

On Nov. 28, a 24-year-old man was arrested in the four shooting deaths. Howell Emanuel "Trai" Donaldson III was charged with four counts of first-degree murder. A police officer doing paperwork at a McDonald's at E 13th Avenue in Ybor City was approached by the restaurant's manager about a gun that had been left behind by Donaldson, a McDonald's employee. Donaldson had asked the manager to hold a bag while he walked to Amscot to get a payday loan. The manager looked in the bag and saw a handgun.

Tampa Police Make Arrest In 4 Seminole Heights Slayings

Roy Halladay Dies In Plane Crash

On Nov. 7, Roy Halladay, the former MLB pitcher, was killed when his small plane crashed into the Gulf near New Port Richey. "We are devastated to learn of the passing of Roy 'Doc' Halladay, who left us far too soon," the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association said of the former Toronto and Philadelphia player. "Rest in peace Roy, you will be sorely missed."

Halladay, 40, was alone in the his Icon A5 plane when it crashed. The two-person, single-engine plane crashed into the ocean about a quarter mile from Ben Pilot Point.

Halladay won two Cy Young Awards, once in the American League in 2003 with the Toronto Blue Jays and once in the National League in 2010 with the Philadelphia Phillies. Halladay will be eligible for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019.

Investigators for the National Transportation Safety Board say Halladay performed steep turns and flew 10 feet above the water prior to crashing his plane. According to a preliminary NTSB report, the plane's parachute failed to deploy before the Icon A5 Series aircraft plunged into the ocean.

A witness to the accident told NTSB he saw the airplane perform a climb to between 300 and 500 feet on a southerly heading before turning and descending on an easterly heading at about a 45 degree nose-down altitude. He then saw the airplane impact the water.

Video footage taken of the airplane before the accident shows it in a descending left 45-degree banked turn and then maneuvering about 10 feet above the water, the report said.

Roy Halladay, MLB Great, Killed In Florida Plane Crash

Girl Survives Gator Attack

In Orlando, a 10-year-old girl used a tip she learned at Gatorland to break an alligator's hold on her leg. A 10-year-old girl attacked by an alligator in Lake Mary Jane in the Orlando area poked the gator's nostril after it chomped down and then pried her leg free.

The child was sitting in about 2 feet of water at the lake in Orange County's Moss Park around 2:32 p.m., May 6 when the gator attacked, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said. Right after the bite, the girl reportedly remembered advice she learned during a trip to Gatorland. The poke, it seems, enabled her to escape with a bite that required 10 stitches.

Gatorland Tip Saved Girl, 10, During Alligator Attack

Pasco Sinkhole Claims Seven Homes

On July 14, a sinkhole opened in Lake Padgett Estates in Land O' Lakes and swallowed two homes. The sinkhole kept expanding to about 260 feet in width. County officials would condemn seven homes.

The sinkhole opened behind a home at 21825 Ocean Pines Drive shortly before 7:21 a.m., July 14. Pasco County Fire Rescue crews arrived on the scene at 7:36 a.m. and reported a depression about the size of a "small pool."

The hole, however, continued to expand, eventually demolishing the homes at 21825 and 21835 Ocean Pines Drive. A boat on the property at 21825 Ocean Pines Drive was also destroyed by the sinkhole. The hole was initially estimated to be about 225 feet in diameter and about 50 feet deep before it started expanding.

Eleven homes were initially evacuated when the sinkhole opened on July 14. Some families were later allowed to return. Ceres Environmental Services used 758 dump trucks of uncrushed limestone to stabilize the sinkhole.

Land O' Lakes Sinkhole: 6 Homes Condemned

Graphic courtesy of the National Hurricane Center