St. Pete mayor lays out plans for short-term hurricane recovery while calling for long-term change

Plans to increase resiliency of St. Petersburg

Hurricanes Helene and Milton caused a lot of damage across the Tampa Bay area. While there's been a big focus on cleaning up after the storms, St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch is calling for long-term resiliency plans to change so communities are better prepared for the next possible storm.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Two weeks after Hurricane Milton made landfall, Mayor Ken Welch shared recovery progress while calling for the city to adjust its resiliency plans and strategy as it is faced with a new reality.

"My focus is on the 15,000 properties that have been damaged, on rebuilding our economy, people who have lost jobs and homes and neighborhoods that will probably be changed forever," said Mayor Ken Welch.

On Thursday, Welch laid out the short-term and long-term plans, after two historic storms.

Welch plans to ask the council to increase the city’s current $740 million resiliency budget for the next five years.

"This recovery and our future actions must reflect the reality of what we are seeing with our rapidly changing environment," Welch explained.

St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch explains the city's recovery plans following Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

FOX 13 got a chance to ask him questions on crucial topics related to recovery.

He said that, so far, the city has completed almost 5,000 damage assessments on 15,000 properties.

It’s cleared 186,000 cubic yards of debris, twice as much from Hurricane Ian. He said the city is about 11 percent of the way through a 90-day debris removal plan.

"Not everyone will be on the first day, nor the last day, but in 90 days we will remove more debris than we have ever moved," Welch stated.

The city expects to collect 1 million cubic yards of debris, with a goal of receiving $100 million in FEMA reimbursement.

St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch says the city has 90 days to remove hurricane debris.

The 90-day collection plan does not take into account any potential other storms before the end of hurricane season.

FOX13 asked Welch about some of the criticisms over the collection process.

READ: Shore Acres residents blast St. Pete debris removal efforts: ‘This is ridiculous’

"We are still listening," Welch shared. ‘We’re just not being dictated to on how we are going to run a very sophisticated debris collection process. This is not my first ride, you’ve got to stay focused on the task at hand."

In regards to FEMA’s 50 percent rule, FOX 13 asked the mayor if he’s worried St. Pete residents will lose their homes.

File: St. Pete hurricane damage

"I’ve been concerned," Welch said. "I think the community has been concerned for some time about what’s going to happen to those severe repetitive loss areas, that were able to survive the current iteration of sea level rise. That’s a real question we have. What does that future look like? What will homeownership look like?

FOX 13 also asked whether the Rays would ever play at Tropicana Field again.

READ: Hurricane Milton's mark on Tropicana Field in Florida highlights need for stronger stadiums

"We are meeting with the Rays consistently. We met with them this morning; we have to work through a lot. The current agreement requires us to make repairs, not the new agreement, the current agreement. So, we are working through that, that is obviously an important consideration but in the scheme of things, the resilience of our city is the most important thing," said Welch.

The mayor added the city is currently getting quotes on what repairs to the Trop will cost and will have a better idea of what their next steps and options will be after that.

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