Flooding mitigation underway in Shore Acres to address years of neighborhood issues
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - After years of waiting and some months of going back and forth with city officials, residents in St. Petersburg’s Shore Acres neighborhood are happy to see the construction tape and generators.
Flooding in Shore Acres neighborhood
"Every step forward is progress," said Shore Acres Civic Association President Kevin Batdorf, "The city is being proactive, and we are appreciative."
READ: St. Petersburg leaders approve $8M grant to ease Shore Acres flooding
On Wednesday, city crews got to work replacing aging backflow preventers in the area.
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"We want Shore Acres to stop flooding," said Batdorf. " We don’t want to be the butt of every joke when flooding comes to town."
Eventually, the city plans to take $3.75 million of its $8 million in grant funding to replace all 56 backflow preventers. But on Wednesday, crews started with 14 that were marked as needing critical attention.
READ: Shore Acres residents fed up with flooding take matters into their own hands: ‘We need solutions’
"We do hope that it will reduce the amount of water that comes into their neighborhood during high tide or storm surge event," Public Works Administrator Claude Tankersley said. "That’s the purpose of these backflow preventers is to prevent the bay and the tide from coming up into the streets".
Work underway in St. Pete
The funding comes from a partnership with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection approved by the St. Pete City Council earlier this year.
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When it comes to addressing flooding concerns around the city of St. Petersburg, Tankersley says this is just the start.
"This isn’t just a Shore Acres issue. I’ve had people come to me and say ‘You’re only really focusing on Shore Acres,’ and I want to say to them no we’re not," he said. "But Shore Acres [is] ground zero. It’s where the biggest problem exists right now and so that is where we’re starting."