As reported by the Tampa Bay Times in their recent article: Two hurricanes swamped Tampa Bay’s flood defenses , and rainfall problems were aggravated by pipes and pumps that did not do their job.
“Sewage stations backed up. Drainage systems were overwhelmed. But experts say there are upgrades possible to prevent future flooding.” As the Times found out, “Infrastructure that was supposed to keep our homes and businesses dry had failed time and again.
It took two storms to hit us in the head to get us to realize what we have known – if we want our toilets to flush, if we want to be able to drink our water, and if we don’t want our homes to flood -we need to fix our sewer and stormwater systems and repair our seawalls.
St. Petersburg had identified $5 billion in needed improvements to its sewer and stormwater systems, and $1 billion in needed seawall repairs. Somehow it forgot about them, when in October, 2023 it committed as much as $1.6 billion or more to build a new baseball stadium.
Now that it looks like baseball is moving on, maybe the city will refocus on what really matters.
