St. Pete leaders discuss ways to ease chronic flooding issues on last day of hurricane season
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - On the last day of hurricane season, city leaders in St. Petersburg talked about areas that repeatedly see the most flooding, and ways to ease the damage from that flooding.
The city’s Flood Plain Division Manager, Hannah Rebholz, presented the 2023 Repetitive Loss Area Analysis to the St. Pete City Council Thursday. The annual report identified four subareas in the city as the most at risk; north, south, east and west.
The city then sends property owners in those areas and their neighbors letters each summer offering mitigation and insurance options, Rebholz said. This year, those letters were sent before Hurricane Idalia.
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"The highest concentration was in the east subarea, primarily in the Shore Acres neighborhood," she said.
The report for 2023 found 969 repetitive loss structures, mostly residential, compared to 2022’s report, which only found 585. More than 750 of the structures from 2023 were in the east subarea.
It’s an increase primarily caused by Hurricane Ian’s flooding, the report stated. The city has made and is making improvements, like improving drainage, in each of the areas to help reduce flooding, Rebholz said. Crews also continue maintenance and street sweeping in all the areas, she said.
"The flood plain division is working towards the most important thing and that is the safety of our community … with our repetitive loss numbers almost doubling in one year, our focus is even higher," Rebholz said.
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The analysis and city leaders both said, though, that the storms are becoming more impactful.
"It's time for us to have a conversation about what it looks like to be a coastal city in the face of stronger storms, sea level rise and how we maintain our coastal neighborhoods for as long as we can," Council Chair Brandi Gabbard said.
"As people know, parts of Shore Acres were really damaged severely and there’s a lot of interest in mitigation and trying to raise homes in Shore Acres," Councilmember Ed Montanari said talking about Hurricane Idalia’s damage.
St. Pete’s damage assessment after Idalia found that the hurricane damaged more than 1,400 homes. Eighty-two percent of the flood damage was in Shore Acres. This year’s Repetitive Loss Area Analysis recommends that, in addition to city mitigation measures, residents maintain flood insurance and elevate their existing structures.
"I just think we have to move faster, and we have to have more resources for our residents," Gabbard said.
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The report went on to say that properties in the identified areas are prone to flooding specifically because they’re built below flood elevation and the storm water systems don’t have the capacity to get the water out fast enough when there are heavy rains, especially during high tides.
If you’re in one of the affected areas, you can contact the city for more information about possible funding for mitigation measures. City leaders will have a more in-depth meeting in March to finalize the storm water master plan, and to discuss lessons learned from Hurricane Idalia.