Tampa councilman calls for investigation into University Area, North Tampa flooding: 'What went wrong?'

Calls for investigation after University Area flooding

Kylie Jones reports

TAMPA, Fla. - Parts of North Tampa and the University Area that don’t typically flood are just starting to clean up from devastating flooding after Hurricane Milton. Residents in the area said it took days for the floodwaters to recede.

A lot of residents and some city leaders are questioning how the floodwaters reached these levels in this area. Officials with the City of Tampa’s Mobility Department said North Tampa got an average of 13.8 inches of rainfall during Milton, which is equivalent to a 300-year rainfall.

"Water damage in the house, in the garage," Dwight Hamilton, who’s lived in the area for 11 years said. "It was bad. It was bad. It was bad."

READ: First responders honored for service during Hurricane Milton

Debris, furniture and the contents of many homes throughout North Tampa sit outside, waiting to be hauled away.

"And, it’s never been like this before," Hamilton said. "At most, the water has come up to the sidewalk there and that was it. But never have we seen it where it was up over the mailbox."

Neighbors did everything they could to prepare for the storm, but this area isn’t a flood zone. Now, many of them are gutting their homes because of major flooding.

"They work really, really hard to get what they had, and now it’s all been taken away," Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera said. "So much of it, and they want answers for that."

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Viera got his first look at the devastation last week, when the area was still only accessible by boat. He said he’s been in North Tampa since the storm, talking to families and residents who have lost nearly everything in the flooding.

Viera said a lot of residents he’s spoken to are frustrated, and he echoed their frustrations.

"I want to have a county wide review, the city of Tampa and Hillsborough County working together, to see what we can do better on infrastructure," Viera said. "But especially, to see what happened in Milton when so many areas that are not flood zones got flooded."

Viera is calling for an independent and objective investigation into the stormwater infrastructure and handling of the flooding.

READ: Seffner neighborhood dealing with alligators and flooded roads after Hurricane Milton

The city’s mobility department said the pump station at Curiosity Creek lost power Wednesday night as the storm barreled in. Officials said the pump station there had a backup generator, but the transfer switch didn’t kick on.

It’s not clear exactly why the switch didn’t turn on, but city officials said it’s possible that there was a surge when the power went out that caused the switch not to turn on.

Mobility officials said that pump was down until mid-day Friday. They said there are three pump stations, which are located in Forest Hills, Curiosity Creek, East Ridge and Bouganvillea, but the station at Curiosity Creek is the only one with a generator.

"We’ve been told that one system didn’t have a backup generator, and that had that been in, we’ve been told this, things would’ve been better," Viera said. "What does that mean?"

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Viera hopes an independent committee can answer some of these questions.

"What went right, what went wrong," Viera said. "And to the extent that things went wrong, two things, what went wrong? What did it lead to? And how can we remedy it? And how much does it cost to remedy it?"

City officials said the amount of rainfall North Tampa got from Milton accounts for about a quarter of the average amount of rainfall the city gets annually. The city said it was pumping the ponds in these areas and doing stormwater drainage clearing prior to Milton.

In the meantime, neighbors are doing their best to lean on each other as they clean up and start over.

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"We’re all going through it, but I will say, we’re in it together," Hamilton said. "We’re all in it together."

Viera plans to propose the creation of an independent review committee at Thursday’s City Council meeting.

City mobility officials said the city has 15 pump stations, and three of the stations have generators. On Wednesday, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said she plans to ask city council for $3.5 million for generators for every pump station.

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