PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Hurricane season is quickly approaching, and the City of St. Pete is working to protect people and infrastructure from future storms.
"We're all watching the calendar…and we have a few more days until hurricane season starts and we just moved back into our home, so it's extremely important and it's a necessity really.
Hurricane season starts June first," said Rachel Dodds, who lives in Shores Acres.
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With only two weeks to go, residents of Shore Acres are feeling uneasy after last year's storms' devastation.
"Most homes that are at street level had four and half feet or more in their home…some homes that never flooded before had a foot of water, maybe two feet," said Kevin Batdorf, who is the president of the Shore Acres Civic Association.
"Not only did homes flood, but people in Shore Acres ran into other issues as well," said Dodds.
During Helene, residents were notified that they could not use the sewage system.
Last September, a storm surge from Hurricane Helene flooded parts of the Northeast water treatment plant, forcing the city to shut it down temporarily.
"I believe city hall heard our frustrations, they understand the problem, you can't shut down a sewer system in a city this large," said Batdorf.
The City of St. Pete is taking steps to keep it from happening again.
Those include making electrical improvements to the northeast water reclamation facility one year ahead of schedule… and a climate vulnerability assessment at the Northeast and Southwest facilities.
Any improvement is better than yesterday.
The city is also working on debris cleanup plans and opening disaster recovery centers.
Batdorf said he's been waiting for these changes for a while and is glad something is being done.
"I'd rather see the city be more proactive rather than reactive…and some of these, although they are reactive, they are going to help us," said Batdorf.
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