TAMPA, Fla. — Flooding remains a major concern for many in Tampa, especially after Hurricanes Milton and Helene swept through the area. Now, the city is taking action, hosting a series of stormwater and flood mitigation meetings.
Hurricanes often bring fear, but even regular thunderstorms, like the ones that rolled in Monday night, had some Tampa residents on edge.
WATCH: "We can’t live in fear": Tampa residents demand flood fixes as city hosts resiliency meetings
At Monday’s resiliency meeting, some people told ABC Action News' Annette Gutierrez that they had to rush home, worried about what kind of flooding they might face.
"We can't live in fear like this every time it rains," said Carlee Perez, a Tampa resident. "I mean, I just got an alert on my phone as we were in the meeting severe weather alert and you just, you're terrified because you've spent all of this money."
Carlee Perez and her neighbor, Christy Agee, have become close because of the storms and flooding that have inundated their neighborhood. They live on West Knights Avenue, where their street flooded during Hurricane Milton. But it’s not just hurricanes…
"Every time that it rains - if we're traveling, if we're texting each other wondering, are we flooding? are we - do we need to run and put flood barriers up? Are we, we had to drain our pool this last time, which I know may not seem like a big problem, but that's a huge expense, and a huge inconvenience," said Agee.
They said the root of the problem is drainage infrastructure, from the pipes to the ditches.
Dozens of people in Tampa share the same concerns, which brought them out to the city’s resiliency meeting focused on stormwater and flood mitigation.
City leaders addressed the concerns and discussed the projects they are working on.
"I think I think they're doing the best they can to try to try to alleviate some fears and maybe to try to shed light on what they're trying to accomplish, but I think that the infrastructure situation is so vast that I think they're in over their head," said Lou Muldoon, a Tampa resident.
Muldoon lives off of Bay Vista in a low-lying area that is more susceptible to flooding.
While he is hopeful to see change, he said he'll believe it when he sees it.
"Even just a regular summer we're gonna have these kind of issues because we don't have proper drainage," said Muldoon. "We have drainage, but it's not proper drainage."
The last resilience meeting is set for Tuesday, July 15th at 6 p.m. at the Tampa Police RICH House.
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