{"id":393945,"date":"2026-09-08T19:16:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T19:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/393945\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T19:16:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T19:16:17","slug":"study-finds-extreme-rainfall-to-be-tampa-fla-s-biggest-flood-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/393945\/","title":{"rendered":"Study Finds Extreme Rainfall to Be Tampa, Fla.\u2019s Biggest Flood Risk"},"content":{"rendered":"

(TNS) \u2014 Flooding from extreme rainfall, not storm surge or high tides, is most on Tampa Bay residents\u2019 minds.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s according to recent results from a survey<\/a> that asked residents to map and describe flood-prone spots. The survey, which spanned Tampa Bay counties from Citrus to Sarasota, had nearly 400 respondents.<\/p>\n

A few themes emerged. Among them, rainfall was the most identified cause of flooding across the region. Additionally, respondents cited development as a cause for worsening flooding woes, and said that solutions could come from reviving natural systems, such as restoring mangroves or replenishing wetlands.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing flooding from a bunch of different drivers, not just surge,\u201d said Alana Todd, the principal environmental planner at the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council.<\/p>\n

The survey, conducted by the planning council and the National Wildlife Federation, is one piece in a puzzle that will go into creating the Tampa Bay Coastal Master Plan. The plan, spearheaded by the planning council, will be a blueprint for identifying areas prone to inundation and solutions that can crisscross cities and counties.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know a lot of these issues don\u2019t stop at jurisdictional borders, like flooding,\u201d Todd said. \u201cWe\u2019re taking more of a watershed approach to planning.\u201d<\/p>\n

A majority of survey respondents \u2014 43% \u2014 came from Pinellas County, followed by Hillsborough County with 24%.<\/p>\n

Amanda Moore , the Gulf program senior director for the National Wildlife Federation , said the plan aims to keep community input at the forefront. The survey and other community feedback will be used in combination with regional flooding data, Moore said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to make sure that\u2019s married together with the community experience,\u201d Moore said.<\/p>\n

Of the nearly 400 respondents, 38% identified extreme rainfall as a cause of flooding, followed by storm surge at 24% and high tide flooding at 18%.<\/p>\n

A map published by the planning council<\/a> shows respondents\u2019 answers to the type of flooding they often experience.<\/p>\n

One person described streets flooding in St. Petersburg\u2019s Disston Heights neighborhood during rain despite cleared-out storm drains. They cited \u201cincreased area pressure\u201d caused by nearby development.<\/p>\n

Another respondent, in a neighborhood a few streets from Sligh Avenue in Tampa, wrote that a pump to a nearby retention pond isn\u2019t reliable and may contribute to flooding.<\/p>\n

A Pasco submission, near Hudson , said creeks and ponds often back up into the streets during heavy rains. They said mangroves and maintained creeks could help address the issues.<\/p>\n

The survey results surprised Todd, she said. Besides the survey, the planning council and the University of Florida held listening sessions to let residents share their views. Often, residents highlighted their fear of tidal flooding caused by hurricanes.<\/p>\n

Beyond identifying flooding concerns, residents also highlighted possible improvements, including restoring and protecting natural habitats to combat the issues.<\/p>\n

Todd said the emphasis on greener alternatives is validating.<\/p>\n

There are two major goals for the plan, she said. The first is to protect people by reducing flooding, and the other is to preserve and restore habitats so they can act as a flood defense.<\/p>\n

Work on the master plan began in May 2025 and is expected to run through 2028. It will be the first of its kind in Florida.<\/p>\n

The plan will allow communities to have a solid base and a better chance when applying for grant-funded resiliency projects, Todd said. The next phase will be to develop concepts for flood-prevention projects.<\/p>\n

The National Wildlife Federation has worked on other coastal master plans, including one in Louisiana that began after hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Moore said it\u2019s one of the more mature and complex master plans in the country.<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay\u2019s plan will be modeled after Louisiana\u2019s, Todd said.<\/p>\n

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is paying for the Tampa Bay project through a $1.99 million grant. To put that into perspective, Louisiana\u2019s coastal master plan cost upward of $30 million, Todd said.<\/p>\n

Louisiana updates its master plan every five or so years. The hope is that Tampa Bay\u2019s regional plan will start the same cycle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are really focused on building a strong foundation for this plan, so we can keep iterating upon it in the future,\u201d Todd said.<\/p>\n

\u00a92026 Tampa Bay Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(TNS) \u2014 Flooding from extreme rainfall, not storm surge or high tides, is most on Tampa Bay residents\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393946,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-393945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393945","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=393945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}