REDINGTON BEACH, Fla. — People in Pinellas County are wondering if the steps they've taken are enough to prevent floodwaters from coming into their homes, after three major flooding events in 2023 and early 2024: Hurricane Idalia, then two more flooding events in December and January.
Local governments have continued applying for grants, completing resiliency studies, installing backflow preventers and raising sea walls. But all that work isn’t likely to change who is most at risk for our current threat: Tropical Depression 4. It’s the work homeowners have been doing themselves to mitigate their own risk that stands the best chance of preventing another insurance claim.
“It is a fair test for the preparations that we've been making since the last two major storms, yes,” Kevin Batdorf said.
This weekend will be a test for Kevin Batdorf. As president of the Shore Acres Civic Association, he's been working feverishly for the past year to help his neighbors escape the kind of flooding they've seen in recent years.
“I've been in contact with the city public works director, different departments with the city, the police department has reached out to me to try and coordinate when to close the neighborhood, if necessary,” he says.
Five temporary pump stations are part of the new ways the city of St. Petersburg is stepping up its proactive mitigation of floodwaters. But more and more homeowners are taking matters into their own hands by replacing roofs, erecting flood barriers, raising their own sea walls, and, in some cases, raising their homes several feet into the air.
After Hurricane Eta flooded Jeff Fuller's house in Redington Beach in 2020, he vowed to never let it happen again. He's teaching methods to hundreds of people throughout the county, including using "seal and peel" caulk, used up north to keep the cold from getting in.
“Make it cheap, make it easy and quick,” he says. “I ask them, ‘Have you ever caulked anything in your life?’ and they go, ‘No.’ ‘Okay, here's what you do,’ and you know what they say to me? Every single one has told me afterward, 'I can do this.'”
People like Bev Rowsey, who lost her washer and dryer during Idalia, met Jeff at a New Year's Party, and let him try to protect her house, including by sealing gaps in her exterior with the special caulk that, unlike regular caulk, peels away after a storm.
“It's my job to make sure my house is secure,” she says. “And what Jeff has done, we tried it one time, and I sprayed water in the area, and it didn't come in my side door, so I was very happy.”
Fuller isn't done yet. He will be back in Shore Acres Saturday morning to walk around a few dozen more homes just before the heavy rain begins to fall.