HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – Engineers share their findings from last hurricane season with Hillsborough County commissioners, Wednesday.
The workshop is part of the county’s ongoing efforts to increase resilience for future storms.
The review comes as Hillsborough County is expected to receive $709 million in federal funding to aid in recovery from previous storms.
Commissioners hosted a series of meetings to gather community feedback and develop a plan for the money.
- Hillsborough leaders review lessons from 2024 hurricane season
- Tampa Bay Water awarded $21M+ in class action settlement over ‘forever chemicals’
- Tampa has 2nd warmest morning on record
Flooding became a concern in various areas of the county during the 2024 storm season. Representatives from the Southwest Florida Water Management District reported that the previous year’s rainfall exceeded historical averages by 22%.
County crews said they’ve been hard at work since last year cleaning the county’s drainage system. The work includes:
- 81 miles of pipes
- 4,300 inlets
- 165 miles of ditches
In May, a robot was utilized to clean drains in a Valrico neighborhood. David Merritt from the Public Works Department stated, “When the storm struck, we received over 5,000 service calls, so we have managed to catch up past the storm date, and we are working from April.”
The workshop starts Wednesday afternoon at 1:30 inside the County Center in downtown Tampa.
