Council members question if Tampa should spend more on maintenance to prevent flooding

Six days a week, Tampa workers are clearing out clogged stormwater systems.

They did so most recently at an inlet on W. Browning Avenue that was packed with leaves and other debris until the workers cleared it.

Annelise Meier believes similar clogs have contributed to occasional flooding in their neighborhood, Parkland Estates, including during Hurricane Milton.

During Milton, for the first time, floodwater climbed up Meiers driveway and inundated her backyard.

Oh! It was frightening, Meier said. If Id have been home, I would have been scared out of my wits.

Ten months later, shes urging the city to invest more money into maintenance: unclogging culverts, clearing trees from drainage ditches, removing muck from retention ponds.

Members of the Tampa City Council would like to see more