Tampa leaders look for freshwater flooding solutions as neighbors are still recovering from the hurricanes

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, fla — Tampa leaders are looking for solutions to prevent freshwater flooding after last year's hurricanes destroyed homes and cars.

People like Nikki Little tell us they are frustrated, and some of that is directed towards the city.

“I think they really need to work on drainage,” Little said.

Little rents on the third floor, so her home did not flood, but her friends in South Tampa were not as lucky.

“They're very stressed out emotionally, but you know they'll bounce back," Little said. "They know they will. But it's an emotional loss that's impacting most of my friends more than anything,” Little said.

Many neighbors tell me they think the freshwater flooding could have been prevented. It is an issue that City Councilman Bill Carlson recognizes.

"We had lots of neighborhoods flooded. I've been to all of them multiple times. We need to do everything we can to prevent flooding the next time,” Carlson said.

He said on Thursday, the council will discuss the current stormwater plan, what went wrong, and the maintenance issues that contributed to the flooding.

“We've seen a lot of maintenance problems all over the city. Ditches that were filled in, some of them by homeowners, some just over time. Culverts filled in or broken. We need to get those fixed. We need to do everything we can to prevent flooding in the future,” Carlson said.

Some potential solutions they are considering include improving pump stations, roadway repaving, partnering with other agencies, and allocating money for maintenance.

“The public has a right to know the information," Carlson said. "The public has a right to know what happened, why they flooded, and what we are going to do about fixing it."

This is an issue that ABC Action News is committed to staying on top of until the city finds a solution.