{"id":340150,"date":"2026-07-14T22:05:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T22:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/340150\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T22:05:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T22:05:07","slug":"tampa-airport-installs-flood-barrier-infrastructure-to-protect-airfield-power-during-hurricanes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/340150\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa airport installs flood barrier infrastructure to protect airfield power during hurricanes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text | article-text\">TAMPA, Fla. (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mysuncoast.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.mysuncoast.com\/\">WWSB<\/a>) &#8211; Construction crews at Tampa International Airport this week began work on infrastructure that would allow the airport to install a temporary 9-foot AquaFence around two airfield electrical vaults during a hurricane.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The vaults power lighting across the airfield, which is critical for aircraft operations \u2014 especially after dark \u2014 and could help the region recover after a major storm, according to TPA.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The airport said the vaults are susceptible to flooding during hurricanes that are Category 3 or higher. The planned barrier would protect the buildings up to a Category 4 storm.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The $1.9 million project includes foundations for the barrier, electrical and drainage improvements, fencing and pumps to help keep storm surge away from the buildings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mysuncoast.com\/2026\/05\/27\/abc7-releases-2026-hurricane-guide-suncoast-families\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.mysuncoast.com\/2026\/05\/27\/abc7-releases-2026-hurricane-guide-suncoast-families\/\">ABC7 releases 2026 Hurricane Guide for Suncoast families<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The barriers will remain in storage at TPA until needed. The airport said a contracted emergency response team could install them around the vaults in about eight to 12 hours.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Sarasota Bradenton International Airport said it has not needed similar flood barriers. A spokesperson for the Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority said SRQ sits about 30 feet above mean sea level and has not had flooding issues that would require them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cOur master drainage system moves water off the airfield into ponds and canals that go directly to the bay,\u201d the airport said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">SRQ said hurricanes Helene and Milton caused only light flooding on some ramp paved surfaces, and that water drained quickly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">TPA\u2019s project comes as Florida moves through another hurricane season and airports across the region prepare for potential storm impacts.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 WWSB. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. (WWSB) &#8211; Construction crews at Tampa International Airport this week began work on infrastructure that would&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":340151,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[139790,139792,139791,135,137,139788,136,139789],"class_list":["post-340150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-aquafence-airport-storm-protection","tag-florida-airport-hurricane-seasonflorida-airport-hurricane-season","tag-sarasota-bradenton-international-airport-flooding","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-international-airport-flood-barrier","tag-tampa-news","tag-tpa-hurricane-preparedness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340150\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}