Residents of a prominent neighborhood say they warned officials about flooding concerns well before Hurricane Milton, but now dozens of homes have been devastated.
“Inside we had 10 inches of water consistently through the entire first floor,” Omyra Rodriguez said as she gave a tour of her home. “We lost kind of everything on [the] first floor — appliances, toys, all of our furniture.”
Rodriguez’s home was one of 30 in the Bayshore Beautiful neighborhood of Tampa that flooded after Hurricane Milton. This area is considered flood zone X.
“Neighbors just on Concordia who have more of a ranch-style home, single floor, lost really everything,” Rodriguez said, referring to neighbors like Debbie Beno, who now has piles of debris outside her home a couple of blocks away.
“It was devastating,” said Beno, who has lived in the neighborhood for 34 years and has never seen flooding like this. “I have no refrigerator, stove, sink, bottom cabinets,” she said, pointing to the cabinets now sitting on the curb as trash. “The experience has been terrible and devastating.”
Beno’s neighbors, who also experienced flooding, are now living in a borrowed RV outside their home while they rebuild, as they did not have insurance. “My neighbors had to cut out almost four feet of drywall,” said neighbor Paige Lindberg. “I’m about five-six, and this is the level of their damage. They can’t live here.”
Beno recalled a pump issue that caused flooding in 2015, which required repairs covered by flood insurance. “They don’t cover much, like bottom cabinets. Last time, they gave me, like, $1,900 or under $2,000 for my cabinets, and I had to spend a lot more. And here we go again,” she said.
Two years after that flooding event, the city of Tampa purchased four parcels to construct a drainage pond. What used to be homes is now an empty lot called Concordia Park. “This is the drain area, but there’s debris blocking the space right now,” said Michelle Turner, pointing out issues with the drainage pond that neighbors have been trying to address.
Emails from neighbors to the city, dating back to 2020, show concerns about the depth of the pond and the standing water that accumulated after thunderstorms. These concerns continued into 2024 when city plans included digging the pond even deeper. In August, neighbors took videos of an excavator at the hole, which was soon underwater after a rainfall.
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“We had referenced the first time we saw significant flooding in the area that should be above the water line,” Rodriguez said.
Despite ongoing emails, the problems persisted, and when Hurricane Milton hit, dozens of homes were damaged. “I think the city of Tampa just kind of ignores things,” Beno said.
Turner called for immediate action and an independent investigation to figure out the root cause of the flooding and prevent future incidents.
Public records requests revealed communication between city leaders and neighbors, but no one from the city would speak on camera. City Council member Bill Carlson met with neighbors and saw city crews taking action for the first time. “Now that’s one of the questions we need to ask,” Carlson said. “We’ve asked for several reports and an update to the overall stormwater plan from 2016, which will come at the beginning of the year.”
Carlson discovered that culverts had not been maintained for years. “Imagine if you went to the Philippines and found a World War II pillbox covered with jungle growth from 50 years, that’s what these looked like,” he said. “It’s obvious, at least on the second one, where they are now that water couldn’t get through, so we need to make sure we do proper maintenance.”
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Neighbors argue that proper maintenance years earlier could have prevented much of the damage. “The city has floodplain maps, and you can see where the water flows. This area is a bowl, so water comes from other areas into here, and because of the levee of the CSX track and the cross-town, the water can’t get by,” Carlson explained.
For this community, the hope is that future concerns will be addressed promptly to prevent further damage. “We know we’re likely not having a Christmas celebration here. We haven’t figured out the alternative yet,” Rodriguez said.
Carlson emphasized the need for emergency funds to hire more stormwater staff and ensure proper maintenance. The city is now working with neighbors on plans to alleviate flooding and setting up meetings to discuss options.
“I don’t think our goal is to point fingers at anyone. Our goal is to get attention to our neighborhood,” Lindberg said.
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