By Kennedy Gilbert
South Tampa has seen an abundance of rain within the last few weeks. The heavy rain has caused intense flooding.
The streets have resembled rivers. Cars are stalled, and pedestrians can’t walk on sidewalks. This issue has affected the quality of the streets and commuters in the area.
The City of Tampa website said, “Due to the lack of topographic relief in our area, it is sometimes difficult for water to quickly drain from the land.”
In a press release, the City said there were 3 to 5 inches of rainfall in about an hour on certain days.
The study was last conducted on Sept. 4.
The City of Tampa said the stormwater system was not designed to drain fast enough when harsh storms hit.
“Typically, it takes the City’s system 2 to 3 hours to drain. No stormwater system to date has been designed to handle up to 5 inches of rain in an hour,” said Joshua Cascio, communications coordinator for the City of Tampa Mobility Department.
The Hillsborough County Fire Department also plays a big role in preventing flooded streets.
“The water table is extremely high in a lot of places in the county right now, so we are definitely having more flooded roads this summer than we’ve had even in the past couple of summers,” said Chris Wilkerson, senior media relations strategist for the Hillsborough County Fire Rescue.
A water table is caused by too much water buildup in the ground, so it is forced to run off into different areas.
The fire department takes preventative measures to help stop potential commuter risks.
“Because we know where the water is, we know when it’s already pretty close to the road, so we’ve been able to close some roads preventively, knowing that with the forecast that night, it was going to rain even more and by the morning, that road would be barricaded or [have] signage put out,” said Wilkerson.
Tow truck companies are also involved in the effects of the flooded roads.
“The majority of the cars that are towed are BMWs,” said Mike McArthur, director of towing services for Stepp’s Towing. “Believe it or not, they do not like water.”
McArthur said that a few years ago, his company responded to a vehicle underwater on Bayshore Boulevard.
When he arrived at the car, he went to tow it out. He said that by the time he walked to the car, his truck was underwater.
“If you see standing water, don’t drive through it,” said McArthur.
He said it’s important to recognize the risk of stalling cars isn’t due to their size. It is about where the electrical system is placed inside the car.
This flooding targets numerous main streets and neighborhoods.
Priscilla Litardo, 20, was driving to work from Clearwater, and her GPS took her through neighborhood roads.
She said she could feel pressure building at her feet from the amount of water on the streets.
Litrado had to sit in a stranger’s driveway until the water drained. She never made it to work.
“This is definitely a failure on the city. They should put a warning sign up about this,” said Litrado.
The City of Tampa said they plan to take action to help with cleanup after heavy rainstorms.
Crews cleaned out storm drains to help with more efficient drainage.
“Lately, we’ve been having a lot of street flooding because of the storms we’ve had the last week and the week before, so you want to get the ditches taken care of and getting the overgrowth cut down so the water is easier to flow,” said Derek Graham, City of Tampa’s mobility and stormwater team leader.
Graham said they have locations that need more attention than others and are prepared to go when the next storm hits.
Flooding is non-preventable, but there are ways to lessen the strength of it. For more information, visit Tampa.gov.