Tampa councilman continues push for independent investigation into North Tampa flooding after Milton
TAMPA, Fla. - Neighborhoods around the North Tampa area were inundated with historic levels of rainfall during Hurricane Milton. Now, Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera is continuing his push for an independent investigation into the stormwater infrastructure and preparations during the storm.
"These families are hurting," Viera said. "And, the very least that we can do for them is to find out what happened out there. "Again, maybe there was nothing that could have been done to prevent it. Maybe there was."
The city of Tampa says there was an average of 13.8 inches of rainfall in North Tampa during Milton. City officials say this was the equivalent of a once in 300-year rainfall.
"This was a tremendous storm of the century," Viera said. "Nobody denies that."
Viera says so many people in his district are left with nothing after their homes flooded during Milton. Neighborhoods in the University Area, like Forest Hills, were underwater for days after the storm.
On Thursday, Viera updated city council on his push for an independent review of the city's storm preparation, successes and infrastructure failures during Milton.
"Why did the flooding happen in these areas?" he said. "What, if anything, could have been done to prevent not just flooding, but the level of flooding? Was there anything that we could have done to mitigate the level of flooding? For example, if flooding reached four feet, could it have just reached one foot?"
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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 midday 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.
In the days after Milton, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor also said she planned to ask city council for around $3.5 million to get generators for every pump station in the city.
Viera says he's spoken to several Hillsborough County officials about a joint investigation into the stormwater infrastructure, because he says a lot of pumps and operations are intertwined.
"Water doesn't stop at the city's edge," he said. "We have about 1.6 million people in our growing Hillsborough County. You have about 400,000 people in the city of Tampa. A lot of areas such as Fowler and North Tampa University area, you have areas where the city stops, and you go into the county."
Viera says this would be a long-term investigation and would not reveal solutions overnight, but he hopes it could help lessen the blow of future storms.
"We need to have an independent, objective process so that we can see what went right, what may not have gone right, and how we can do better in the future," Viera said.
Viera says he would like the review to be done by independent contractors. He says this would be an expensive project though, and there would need to be discussions about how to fund it down the road.
Viera says the Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners is expected to get a post-Milton stormwater briefing at its meeting on Wednesday. On Thursday, Viera requested an update and presentation with Hillsborough County staff at Tampa City Council's meeting on November 21.
