St. Pete approves $5M to improve drainage around Lake Maggiore after hurricanes caused flooding
St. Pete votes to help hurricane flood victims
FOX 13's Genevieve Curtis reports on the city of St. Pete's plans to minimize the impacts of future storms on homeowners after Hurricane Milton brought feet of water and mass flooding to neighborhoods near Lake Maggiore and Salt Creek.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The neighborhoods around Lake Maggiore are closer to flood protection after the St. Petersburg City Council signed off on a new project.
A total of $5.1 million dollars is going towards improved drainage at Salt Creek.
It took days for floodwaters to recede after Hurricane Milton, cutting off parts of south St. Pete.
PREVIOUS: South St. Pete neighbors return home, many still flooded around Lake Maggiore
Homeowners around Lake Maggiore are now celebrating the city’s plans to prevent floodwaters from reaching their doors.
"I’m so grateful," said Kelly Bockholt.
"We don’t want to see this happen again," said Linda Smith.
They are still in the process of rebuilding after back-to-back storms caused the lake to overflow.
"Once hurricane Milton hit, there was nowhere for the water to go, it came up in our homes. We got about 3 feet of water in our house," she said.
She said some neighbors had to be rescued from their homes by the Coast Guard. Now the city is accelerating plans to improve drainage.
The Salt Creek drainage project was prioritized by Mayor Ken Welch as part of his post-storm recovery plans. It’s part of a larger plan that would transform vacant property along the creek into a nature preserve and help to better regulate the flow during significant rain events.
The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13's Genevieve Curtis.
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