Southwest Florida Southwest Florida Southwest Florida is the region along the southwest Gulf coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is known for its sugar white sand beaches, lush tropical landscape, and winter resort economy. Definitions of the region vary, though its boundaries are generally considered to put it south of the Tampa Bay area, west of Lake Okeechobee, and mostly north of the Everglades and to include Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties. For some purposes, the inland counties of DeSoto, Glades, and Hendry, and the thinly populated mainland section of Monroe County, south of Collier, are also
Effects of Hurricane Isaac in Florida it made two landfalls on the state. Once it moved inland, the hurricane weakened before dissipating over Missouri on September 1. At 2100 UTC on August 24, a tropical storm watch was issued for all of Florida south of the Jupiter Inlet on the east coast and south of Bonita Springs on the west coast; it also included Lake Okeechobee and the Florida Keys. Early on the next day, the tropical storm watch was upgraded to a warning, while the Florida Keys and the mainland from Ocean Reef to Bonita Springs were placed under a hurricane watch. Further north, a