The Bypass Canal: Tampa's flood insurance

TAMPA, Fla. - The flooding in Houston is catastrophic, but not so long ago, flooding in Tampa was virtually a way of life.

The last major hurricane to hit Tampa directly came in 1921, but there were also big floods through the 1930's and '40's and in 1960 with Hurricane Donna. That's when the push for the Tampa Bypass Canal began.

Construction began in 1965 on the 15-mile canal that begins at the upper Hillsborough River at Morris Bridge Road and carries water to McKay Bay, bypassing Temple Terrace and Tampa.

The canal was completed in 1981 and faced one of its biggest tests in 2004 when three major hurricanes hit the state without flooding on the lower Hillsborough River.

It's designed to handle a 100-year storm and then some.