Flooding in St. Petersburg neighborhoods likely not a FEMA disaster
The no-name winter storm that passed through over the weekend wreaked more havoc on homes still building back from Hurricane Idalia just 110 days ago.
City crews on Monday returned to the low-lying neighborhoods of Shore Acres and Riviera Bay to assess damage and needs. While some homes had flooding, including in garages and driveway portable storage units storing furniture while homes are being rebuilt or repaired, the damage may not be as intense and widespread for a federal disaster declaration, said St. Petersburg’s emergency manager, Amber Boulding.
“We’re not seeing the type of numbers we had during Idalia,” she said.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency considers 18 inches or more a major flood event, as it begins damaging electrical service. City spokesperson Erica Riggins on Monday said teams found 75 homes in Shore Acres and five homes in Riviera Bay with minor damage. No “major” damage was reported, she said.
Audrey Stasko, a Duke Energy Florida spokesperson, said the electrical surge seen in viral videos running through power lines above homes and over flooded streets is called “arcing.” She confirmed there was an outage Sunday morning in Shore Acres caused by a “fault,” or something that hit the power line like strong winds or flying debris. The cause of the fault is still being investigated.
Stasko said Duke teams worked to isolate the damage, reroute the power and then restore power in steps. All customers had power restored by 3:30 p.m.
Boulding said there were no reported full structure fires and no calls for emergency evacuations. She said crews from the city’s Building Department are documenting physical evidence, including by taking photos of waterlines on houses, that will be submitted to Pinellas County to help make a plan on how to move forward with cleanup. Based on what is assessed, homeowners may qualify for a Small Business Association loan.
The storm marks the third time in three years Shore Acres has flooded.
“The timing is just hurtful to the neighborhood,” said Kevin Batdorf, president of the Shore Acres Civic Association. “I think everyone’s exhausted from this.”
Batdorf said he was on the phone with City Council member Ed Montanari when he heard what sounded like a transformer getting ready to blow. The “pops” lasted for five seconds, then 10, then 30. Batdorf stepped outside and saw arcing of power lines go on for several blocks, then he heard popping inside his home.
He said he heard surge protectors blowing. His outlets were popping, his breakers tripping. Outside, streets were flooded and power lines were down. St. Petersburg Fire Rescue responded in a high-rise truck to check out his home.
“If I hadn’t been there, my house most likely would’ve caught on fire,” Batdorf said.
Batdorf says he’s the lucky one. He said there are hundreds of portable storage units in driveways storing personal effects and good furniture while some struggle to find a contractor or get their insurance money to make repairs from Idalia. Now, those storage units are likely ruined, too.
Montanari said he could see the watermarks on the storage units. He said he spoke to the city about moving the pods to a safer area, but the city didn’t have the equipment to move them.
“There’s all kinds of liability issues,” Montanari said. “The pods were something we couldn’t find an answer to.”
Batdorf is meeting with city officials to discuss preventative measures. He said 45% of the neighborhood’s homes, 1,206 to be exact, were flooded by Hurricane Idalia. Batdorf thinks that’s a low count, and most of those homes are workforce housing for teachers, nurses and police officers.
“We need solutions at the city, state and even at the FEMA level. How much money are they continuing to spend to put a house back to the way it was when it flooded instead of mitigating the issue and stopping it from flooding?” Batdorf said. “I just think the money should be diverted into a better system. Mitigation is what needs to be done, not rehabilitation.”
