St. Pete officials, lawmakers crafting bill to stop 'wakes' on flooded streets

'No wake' proposal for flooded streets

FOX 13's Genevieve Curtis reports on Tampa Bay area lawmakers working on a bill that would stop drivers from making waves in flooded streets, which was seen a lot during Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Tampa Bay area lawmakers are working on a bill that would stop drivers from making waves in flooded streets, which was seen a lot during Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Cars creating a wake as they drive through floodwaters is an all too familiar sight in neighborhoods like Shore Acres.

"You have what we call joyriders. Some of us call them clowns, idiots, morons," said Kevin Batdorf, the president of Shore Acres Civic Association.

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Why you should care:

One driver's "joyride" is someone else's nightmare, because wakes coming from those cars pushes water into homes that otherwise wouldn't have flooded during hurricanes. It's why Batdorf and the Shore Acres Civic Association have been advocating for legislation to stop it for years.

But now, there may be a path forward.

What's next:

State Rep. Lindsay Cross and State Senator Nick DiCeglie are drafting a bill that would make it illegal to drive more than five miles per hour through floodwaters. St. Petersburg's city council will take up a resolution supporting the bill on Thursday.

Amber Boulding, St. Pete's emergency manager, said it won’t solve the issue, but it’s an important step.

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"I know the pins and needles of waiting for the water to recede, and it does recede and then someone drives by and pushes it into the yard and that’s the worst feeling ever," said Boulding, who also lives in one of the flood-prone neighborhoods.

What they're saying:

St. Pete police said they often get calls from residents, asking them to help. If it were a law, they said they could do more education about the problem and that they can – and will – issue citations.

"Chief Holloway is in favor of this and so is Sheriff Gualtieri," said St. Pete's Assistant Police Chief Mike Kovacsev.

States like Louisiana and South Carolina have similar laws on the books. Previous attempts to address the issue locally were unsuccessful, but Batdorf hopes the tides may be turning.

"People start complaining about the same thing we've been complaining about for years. And now with more people doing it and an understanding of the problem, maybe there's a fix," he said.

The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Genevieve Curtis through interviews with residents and St. Pete officials.

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