ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Resilient St. Pete Resident Task Force will tour Southside neighborhoods on Saturday to hear directly from residents about problem areas.

What You Need To Know

  • The Resilient St. Pete Resident Task Force will tour Southside neighborhoods on Saturday

  • The tour will go through Bartlett Park, Harbordale, Bonita Bayou and Coquina Key

  • The Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council and the City teamed up to create the flood task force

  • Hurricane Helene floodwater closed MLK St. S. at 28th Avenue S. for nearly two weeks

“The citizens are the expert on the ground. That’s their neighborhoods they’ve seen and they know what’s going on there,” said Claude Tankersley, Public Works Administrator. “We’re bringing in the engineers who understand stormwater and flooding so that the two can talk to each other. So we can come up with some solutions.”

The Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council and the City teamed up to create the flood task force, which will tour Bartlett Park, Harbordale, Bonita Bayou and Coquina Key. The group’s first tour was in Shore Acres and Riviera Bay last Saturday.

“We’re going to compile the information and get back together with those same neighborhoods in workshops to make sure that we understand,” said Tankersley. “Then we’re going to come up with some solutions.”

Harbordale Civic Association President Angel Torrens said his neighborhood desperately needs the help. Torrens said Hurricane Helene floodwaters completely surrounded Harbordale for a few hours, leaving residents trapped. He shot video of floodwater on 4th Street S. and 22nd Avenue S.  

“It was one of the most startling sights because I was just praying that it would stop,” he said. “It was just a scary feeling to know that we could not get out… turned into an island separated from the rest of St. Petersburg.” 

Torrens said the floodwater on MLK Street S. and 28th Avenue S. remained on the road for many days and the National Guard blocked off the area.

“This area was flooded for almost two weeks,” he said. “It goes as far as up to 26th Avenue.”

That area is next to the Salt Creek outlet from Lake Maggiore, which Torrens suspects was part of the problem. Public Works Administrator Tankersley confirms it contributed to the street flooding because Salt Creek is the only outlet which drains the lake.  

“So one of the projects that we’re going to be bringing forward in the next few years is to create a second outlet for Lake Maggiore,” he said. “So now we’ll have two ways to drain that water.”

Torrens said residents would also like to see the storm drains cleaned, and Salt Creek dredged. A home which sits across the street from the creek has water bubble up through the storm drain and driveway during a regular rain storm, according to Torrens.

“Through the driveway.. I’ve watched bubbles,” he said. “The cement is kind of loose.”

According to city data, 67 homes in Barlett Park flooded, which is 16 percent of the neighborhood. In Bayou Bonita, 125 homes flooded, which is 77 percent of the neighborhood. In Harbordale 38 homes flooded, which is 56 percent of the neighborhood.

Torrens said he’s grateful the Resilient St. Pete Resident Task Force will be touring his neighborhood and plans to attend.

“I’m glad to see somebody out here,” he said. “I’m sure that’s what everybody else in the neighborhood is going to say once they start seeing some action.”

The task force tour for Bartlett Park and Harbordale runs from 9 to 11 a.m. on Saturday and the tour for Bonita Bayou and Coquina Key runs from 1 to 3 p.m.