Clearwater residents raise concerns about flooding this hurricane season

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Clearwater homeowners are speaking out, concerned about flooding as hurricane season begins. Residents of Clearwater’s North Beach said it’s a problem that has plagued their neighborhood for years.

“Within 15 minutes of it starting to rain, flooding occurs, very, very quickly and very deeply,” says Iwona Misuta, who lives in the North Beach neighborhood.

Residents of North Beach in Clearwater said even a short rain shower could cause major damage.

“A week ago there was a rainstorm that lasted about an hour and you couldn’t get through any of these roads, they were completely flooded and clogged,” said Andie Brown, a resident of the area.

When hurricanes pass through, families get nervous.

“All of my neighbors lost almost everything they owned in Hurricane Idalia last year. It was a travesty. All of their belongings were on the sidewalks,” Brown said.

Many homeowners reported thousands of dollars worth of repair costs after Hurricane Idalia.

“I think the situation is very serious because all these people have just completely renovated their houses and now the next season is starting. Will it be necessary to do the whole thing again?” says Hellie Sondermann, another resident.

Clearwater city officials said the problem is decades-old stormwater pipes that are too narrow and accumulate debris, so the city is working on stormwater disposal improvements in the area.

The project to replace the pipes and improve the sewer system is estimated to cost up to $100 million.

“Most of these people here have been under two to four feet of water for the past year. I mean, that’s crazy! I mean, that’s just horrible. So what do we do? We batten down the hatches as best we can. Sandbags don’t help,” Brown said.

City officials said the project could take up to seven years to complete because planning a new stormwater drainage system could take two years and improvements would need to be done in phases to avoid shutting down the entire neighborhood for construction.

While residents said they were happy that the city had a plan, they said changes needed to be made sooner.

“Seven to 10 years of hurricanes, Florida, this beach … Clearwater Beach will be gone in seven to 10 years,” Brown said.

Authorities are currently working on financing the project. Residents said they would contact the city to find further solutions for the neighborhood.

“Everyone needs to go out, come together and come up with a plan of what we can do,” Brown said.