Flooding

Hillsborough County is holding public meetings to hear how it can do a better job of handling flooding during the upcoming storm season.

While the state is offering to pay for about 75% of the elevation cost through federal grants, one resident questions how stable the funding from Washington really is.

Lake Bonny residents have launched a petition online demanding oversight of city flood mitigation.

For months now, one couple has been staying in an RV parked in their front yard.

Said one resident: "I've got a home here that's now not even sitting on its foundation correctly because of the water, and I don't know what to do."

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is borrowing $2 billion to pay National Flood Insurance Program claims. The agency said the two hurricanes as of Feb. 6 had led to more than 78,000 claims, with estimated losses possibly topping $10 billion.

They include upgrading several water pump stations throughout the city, and putting generators at all the stations while switching to generator power for all the stations right before storms hit.

A nine-foot-tall, 500-foot-long AquaFence will soon guard Lift Station 85, a wastewater treatment plant that services St. Petersburg’s downtown waterfront.

Homes, cars and streets were flooded with rainwater for days — and even weeks — after Hurricane Milton, which overwhelmed stormwater systems.

Residents and small business owners in the area have been at odds about the practicality of the proposal.

Flooding caused nearly $60 million in damage to Sarasota County in Hurricane Debby, according to county estimates.

Planners will meet to discuss the proposal, which seeks to rezone farmland so that 170 homes could be built in an area where only five residential units are now allowed.