TAMPA, Fla. -- It didn’t seem bad at first, but South Tampa resident Aaron Gilman says the scene along Manhattan Avenue changed quickly.
“Pretty much instantly the street just turned into a river,” said Gilman.
A lifelong Florida resident, Gilman bought a home off Manhattan Avenue in February and thought a project to put in new drains would prevent flooding problems at his new home.
“It was definitely to my surprise,” said Gilman. “I thought it would improve with the construction along here but haven’t seen any benefit yet.”
The city says that’s because they’re not finished with their major drainage improvements. While many of the new drains are already in place, federal guidelines require the drains be blocked.
“We’ve got to make sure debris and dirt and other things don’t get in there and clog it up,” said Jean Duncan, Tampa’s Director of Transportation and Storm Water Services. “The only way to do it is to block where the water goes in.”
The city says there’s nothing they can do about the requirement and expect bring in pumps to remove water when they can. They say investments to clean out underground pipes have done wonders to improve the system, but in areas where the water is still slow to flow into the drains, residents will have to wait until those improvements are complete.
“It takes a certain amount of time to go through procurement, to design and to actually build these projects,” said Duncan.
The city’s $11 million project to install two miles of new pipe along Manhattan Avenue will eventually help drain an estimated 500 acres of South Tampa. The good news: That segment is almost done. The much larger $40 million phase closer to Dale Mabry Highway is just in the beginning stages.
Aaron Gilman says after what happened this weekend he isn’t waiting.
“I will be getting sandbags this weekend because it was pretty eye opening for me,” he said
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 10 News app now.
Have a news tip? Email tips@wtsp.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.
