HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – An engineering firm presented their analysis from the previous hurricane season to the Hillsborough County commissioners on Wednesday.
The workshop was part of the county’s ongoing efforts to increase resilience for future storms.
The engineers mentioned that they spent several months examining information from permits, reports, photographs, and interviews with various stakeholders, supplemented by a series of community feedback meetings.
The findings included what went right, what went wrong, and how the county could be more resilient.
Overall, engineers said record rainfall amounts contributed to unprecedented flooding the county experienced.
Engineers praised the county for flood modeling, saying their efforts are critical to predict what areas may flood.
Engineers found the county could improve some stormwater assets, such as ditches and pump sites.
“Inspection reports that they are in good condition. The key challenge is you don’t really have access to many of the ditches,” the report said.
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
Additionally, the engineers indicated that the pump stations are approaching the end of their expected lifespan, and they suggested these stations should undergo evaluation and updates.
“We’re going to be talking some more about how we can continue to improve our stormwater systems, improve our pump stations, improve our maintenance of ditches, outfalls, and canals, and improve our communication with our residents,” said Hillsborough County Commissioner Harry Cohen.
The review comes as Hillsborough County is expected to receive $709 million in federal funding to aid in recovery from previous storms.
Commissioner Cohen said the report would help them develop a plan for the money.
“Fortunately we have some federal dollars that we’ve been awarded that we’re gonna be able to put toward this effort, and it’s very, very important that we make sure that we spend that money wisely and judiciously and do what we can to prepare for the storms of the future,” said Commissioner Cohen.
