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Residents in South Tampa, Davis Islands concerned over flooding after Monday's storms

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Published  June 2, 2025 11:07pm EDT
Tampa
FOX 13 News
Flooding concerns during hurricane season

Flooding concerns during hurricane season

Jordan Bowen reports.

The Brief

    • Monday morning, residents on Davis Islands were caught by surprise when a 10-minute rainstorm flooded multiple streets.
    • The city confirmed to FOX 13 the amount of rain fell so quickly it was beyond the capacity of any stormwater system.
    • Photos and videos show several inches of water covering multiple streets with some water reaching the garage door of some homes.

TAMPA, Fla. - A 10-minute rainstorm had water completely covering some roads in some parts of South Tampa and Davis Islands Monday morning.

"Everyone's a little shocked. We weren't expecting this much rain. And I think a lot of us were having a flashback to Helene," Davis Islands resident Theresa Mena said.

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Local perspective:

Outside Mena's Davis Island home, several inches of water covered the entire intersection.

"Every time it rains, whether it's a 10-minute storm, 20-minute storm, the water just builds up," Davis Islands resident Terrence Concannon said.

Meanwhile, in South Tampa it was a similar story. Video from residents shows trash bins in the street and several inches of water covering the street and part of the sidewalk. In these photos, you can see the water line reached this person's garage and on the side of their home there was a water line a few inches high.

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In one video, you can see the water bubbling up from the storm drain.

"Before Helene, if we had a rainstorm that lasted over an hour, the water would maybe come up to the curb," Mena said.

What they're saying:

In a statement sent to FOX 13, a spokesperson for the City of Tampa writes, "We received 2.3 inches of rain in less than 30 minutes, which stormwater engineers characterize as a 100-year event.  That amount of rainfall so quickly is beyond the capacity of any stormwater system. The City of Tampa is investing many millions of dollars to enhance our stormwater systems and maintain them properly, and the flooding that occurred today dissipated in less than an hour..."

We asked FOX 13 Chief Meteorologist Paul Dellegatto about that. 

READ: Tampa prepares for the 2025 hurricane season using lessons from last year's back-to-back storms

"Our climate in the summer, including now, is we get big thunderstorms that can drop three, four, five inches of rain an hour. And there really isn't a drainage system designed that can handle that much water," Dellegatto said.

Residents hope something is done, so they can stop worrying their homes are in danger of flooding again.

"Since Helene the shortest rainstorm, it's bringing water right up into people's driveways. And like I said, it was only a 10 minute quick rainstorm," Mena said.

What's next:

This Wednesday, the Davis Islands Civic Association is holding a meeting with the City of Tampa for residents to come to. The meeting was scheduled before Monday's storm, but say flooding like what happened today will be a big topic of discussion.

The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Jordan Bowen. 

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