St. Pete leaders work toward solutions to ongoing flooding issues in Shore Acres

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The City of St. Petersburg is pursuing solutions to the ongoing flooding issues in the Shore Acres neighborhood. 

Whether it's a hurricane, no-name winter storm, or even high-tide, it seems the streets of Shore Acres always hold standing water. For years, the Shore Acres Civic Association has requested drainage infrastructure improvements. 

St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch, city staff and the Civic Association board met last Wednesday, January 31, to discuss improvements. 

RELATED: Shore Acres residents fed up with flooding take matters into their own hands: ‘We need solutions’

Board member Elijah Ramsey III, used this analogy: "We need band-aids today, we need stitches soon, and we need surgery long-term." 

The Civic Association proposed routine maintenance on the drainage system, something right now that the city does annually between its three crews. 

"And then on the community's side, making sure that people are reporting when the backups are starting to happen," he said. "When people are starting to see the water pool when we're not having storms, because those are trying to tell us that there's an issue there." 

READ: Shore Acres neighborhood accounts for 82% of St. Pete's flood damages from Hurricane Idalia

Residents can report those issues on the SeeClickFIx site here. 

Ramsey said the "stitches" are replacing some of the community's backflow preventers, which are like one-way doors that help curb high-tide flooding. The city agreed to replace 14 of the 56 in Shore Acres in the coming months.

Finally, the "surgery" would be raising properties higher, potentially through FEMA grant funding. 

"People are doing it on their own. They're not waiting for grant funding. They're just raising their houses and that's what we need," said Shore Acres Civic Association President Kevin Batdorf. "The problem is, there are almost 700 homes that need to be raised out of harm's way."

Batdorf said the Civic Association plans to circle back with Mayor Welch with additional proposals in the coming weeks.