The City of Tampa saw nearly 5 inches of rain Tuesday and close to 4 inches Wednesday creating chaos out on the roads and putting cars under water.
City officials said stormwater systems were overwhelmed by the downpour.
“I’ve seen cars literally underwater… I have a very small compact car so there’s a lot of flooding I can’t ride through. It’s a mess,” South Tampa resident Jamal Burton explained.
Rebecca Ranney sent us video showing major street flooding and cars driving through it in the Hyde Park area.
Street flooding and cars driving through it in the Hyde Park area
“We’ve had more than three inches, three and a half inches, within an hour in certain parts of the city. That kind of rain will inundate any of our stormwater systems. Our stormwater systems are not designed for that kind of rain,”
Vik Bhide, the Director of Mobility for the City of Tampa, said they are developing a watershed management plan citywide that considers the latest sea level rise data.
“We’ll be modeling every basin within the city to understand what our future infrastructure needs are. As part of that effort, we’re also looking at what policies do we need to put in place, and certainly development, particularly the location of development, as we grow, is going to be critical,” Bhide explained.