Experts say Manatee County is running out of time to prepare for 2025 hurricane season
The Brief
Manatee County officials and residents are worried that time is running out to fully prepare for 2025's hurricane season, which is less than 100 days away, after getting struck hard by storms in 2024.
Independent contractors hired by the county warn that without better preparations for storm season, the county will again be susceptible to devastating impacts.
Contractors noted outdated flood maps and stormwater treatment infrastructure as sources of concern as storm season approaches.
LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. - With less than 100 days until hurricane season, some people in Manatee County are still rebuilding from Tropical Storm Debby.
In August 2024, Debby caused unexpected and devastating flooding in areas like Lakewood Ranch.
Dig deeper
Recently, an independent contractor hired by Manatee County to study the flooding from Debby shared his findings.
"We looked at three primary sources," Patrick Tara, a principal engineer with INTERA, said. "One was storm surge. The other one was rainfall runoff, and the third was the reservoir release from Lake Manatee."
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Families who have lived in areas like Lakewood Ranch for more than a decade say their homes had never flooded until Debby.
"Rainfall was the primary source of flooding, and the reservoir release was not a significant factor," Tara said.
Tara says the primary focus of the study was originally on the Braden River.
"If the reservoir release was a significant factor, it would have been greatly delayed from when the reservoir released the water and finally made it down to the Braden River."
Tara says they also studied Gamble Creek.
What they're saying
Residents like Jill Sauchinitz and her family were displaced from their home for five months after Debby. She says the storm left 17 inches of water in their home.
"We could not leave on our own," Sauchinitz said. "We could not walk. We could not drive. So, we had to call for emergency rescue."
Sauchinitz says she worries that every time they get a heavy rain, their home might flood again.
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Sauchinitz feels like there hasn't been action taken to make changes or improvements to stormwater infrastructure and systems in order to prevent this type of flooding from happening again.
"We don't have that time," she said. "We have 90 days until hurricane season."
Big picture view
Manatee County stormwater engineers say the Braden River area has grown extensively, signaling the need for more stormwater infrastructure maintenance and long-term improvement projects.
"Whether they be south county with Lakewood Ranch or up in the vicinity of Parrish, that maintenance needs to expand in conjunction with the development," Manatee County Stormwater Engineering Division Manager Thomas Gerstenberger said.
Gerstenberger says there are two prongs to the work that needs to be done.
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"As far as addressing the debris and the blockages that have culminated because of the storms that were experienced in 2024, to address those as debris removal maintenance," Gerstenberger said. "In the long term, to address long-term maintenance needs through those property owners, and to also identify future potential projects which can address both flood control and can address the conveyance capacity of our drainage systems in Manatee County."
Gerstenberger says flood maps used for the design and grading of some developments in the county are outdated.
"With respect to Summerfield, the flood maps that were utilized back in the late 90s, back when Summerfield was constructed, those flood maps have not been revised or altered to today's date," Gerstenberger said. "It was essentially from 1992, effective from to present. There has been no update to those flood insurance free maps in Lakewood Ranch."
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Gerstenberger says the county is developing eight watershed management plans with the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which will take years to complete.
"The end result would be to submit the improvements in that data, the drainage modeling and the flood mapping from those watershed management plans to FEMA to update countywide flood insurance rating maps," Gerstenberger said.
What's next
As the area keeps growing, Tara says the county's stormwater treatment infrastructure, like retention ponds, will have to grow with it.
However, the county says one hurdle it faces is the price tag of each project.
"At this point, stormwater engineering in this county, we're relying upon ad valorem taxes or and infrastructure sales tax, where it is available to utilize incremental taxing districts," Gerstenberger said.
The county says any option for a funding source is on the table.
Gerstenberger says they expect to discuss emergency maintenance funding with the county commission later this month.
Sauchinitz says they don't have time to wait for the county to act and worries that the county won't make the necessary changes before the 2025 hurricane season.
"We live in Florida, there are times when it rains hard," Sauchinitz said. "Hurricane season starts in 90 days. When are they going to do something?"
The county is also using data from a different study conducted by the developer of Lakewood Ranch to explore remediation options.
Recently, Sarasota County announced a proposal to spend $75 million of federal funds to dredge multiple waterways, including Phillippi Creek, which contributed to devastating flooding after Debby.
Sauchinitz says she would like to see similar projects proposed for waterways in Manatee County, which has also experienced major flooding.
"It's long past due," she said. "We are drained. We have been forced into financial ruins. Our lives will never be the same," Sauchinitz
The Source
FOX 13's Kylie Jones collected the information in this story.
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