With hurricane season opening June 1, St. Petersburg has kicked off a public planning process around long-term flood resilience — even as many residents in one of the city’s most vulnerable neighborhoods are still rebuilding from storms nearly two years ago.
The city held the first in a series of public meetings Tuesday night focused on flood risk and resilience planning, asking residents to weigh in on how St. Petersburg should prepare for sea-level rise, storm surge, tidal flooding, and heavy rainfall in the decades ahead.
The meeting comes as many families in Shore Acres, one of the city’s most flood-prone neighborhoods, are still rebuilding from the devastating 2024 hurricane season. Shore Acres resident Kevin Batdorf estimates that between 30 and 40 percent of the neighborhood’s homes have not yet been repaired. Some remain unoccupied; others are being elevated.
Barry Rubin, vice president of the Shore Acres Civic Association, said the situation leaves many families exposed as another storm season approaches. “There’s a tremendous number of people who are still in harm’s way, and we need to fix that,” he said.
City Council member Mike Harting said the meetings are an opportunity for residents to shape decisions going forward, and that the city is planning ahead as flooding threats intensify. “The city is thinking about this and planning for the fact that different things are coming,” he said.
The public planning process is expected to continue over the next year and a half. Infrastructure projects underway in Shore Acres include a new pump station and other flood-mitigation investments. Rubin welcomed those efforts but said the timeline for broader solutions falls far short of what residents need. “They’re looking at 30, 40, 50-year solutions, and that’s unacceptable,” he said. “We need a solution today.”
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