During the 2024 hurricane season, you either watched the horrific storms unfold on your TV or experienced them firsthand.
They have become unavoidable. That's why one Florida city is taking action.
According to Fox 13 News, St. Petersburg has created the Resilient St. Pete Resident Task Force, which is intended to deal with flood-related issues.
The city is still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricanes Milton and Helene from 2024. It still hasn't recovered from the 2023's Hurricane Idalia, either.
Resident Task Force Member, Kevin Batdorf, the Shore Acres Civic Association president, told Fox 13 News, "One of the requests we made was to get us a seat at the table. This is our seat at the table."
The task force aims for community members to identify the issues they see, and a third-party engineer paid for by the city will point out concerns from their perspective.
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The first to-do item was a resiliency bus tour on May 10, intended to promote methods to protect homes and businesses. All residents were welcome to join.
One plan the city has for combating the flooding issue is "a stormwater pump station" on a street that starts at the coast, per Fox 13 News.
Batdorf has also been part of brainstorming discussions.
He said, "One idea that's been floated out there is to build a seawall high enough to prevent surge."
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Move somewhere else 🌎 This type of innovation is critical when storms are becoming more unpredictable and dangerous.
Molly Wood, a journalist and tech investor, explained in a blog post that rising global temperatures are practically "steroids" for weather. While storms aren't unusual, warmer temperatures make them worse.
Collaboration between the city, residents, and engineers to combat the issue is an excellent example of exploring the issues to better understand how to solve them.
Mayor Kenneth T. Welch said in a press release, "The City of St. Petersburg is diligently preparing for the upcoming hurricane season by prioritizing resiliency, accelerating our infrastructure projects, and implementing lessons learned from last year's hurricane season."
City Council Chair Copley Gerdes added, "Every hurricane season brings with it the chance for forces beyond our control to test the very fabric of St. Petersburg. Fortunately, this administration isn't waiting to react — they're acting now."
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