May 23, 2025 • 8 mins
As another hurricane season approaches, residents of one part of Tampa are still dealing with damage in the aftermath of flooding during Hurricane Milton. They live in the section of the city that's actually farthest away from the water, and many didn't have flood insurance. We speak with Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera about what led to the unexpcted floodwaters, and how residents are moving forward.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gordon Bird here with Beyond the News. We're looking at
another hurricane season and we all know about the dangers
of storm surge flooding at the coast. The Tampa Bay
area is recovering from two hurricanes in twenty twenty four.
One of those, named Milton, caused extensive flooding far away
from the coast thanks to rainfall. Tampa City Councilman Luis
Vieira represents a district on the north side of the
(00:22):
City of Tampa that suffered unexpected flooding from Milton, and
it's something to keep in mind, particularly if you live
in a neighborhood or a community, or a city or
a county that isn't next to the water. Councilman Vieira
joins us, now welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Sir, Yes, sir, thank you so much for having me, Bordon,
real pleasure.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Now, when you think of flooding from a hurricane around
Tampa Bay, you would think first of the neighborhoods in
your city that are close to the bay and close
to the waterline, areas like South Tampa Bay Shore near
the airport, Palmetto Beach, Davis Island, Harbor Island, and so on.
Your district I think is probably the most inland part
of the city of Tampa, and yet there was extensive
(01:01):
flooding during Milton. Tell me about what was going on
there and what your constituents have been dealing with.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Yes, sir, so again, a great pleasure to be here.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
You know, in October when Milton hit, we were shocked
to find that there was flooding that happened in the
North Tampa area and neighborhoods of hardworking people like Forest Hills,
like Overlook, the University area, communities like Timber Falls off
of one hundred and thirteenth Street. Like you said, these
are neighborhoods that are in Zone X. They're not typically
prone to flood at all. So people were very shocked.
(01:34):
The big thing with this is the evening that Milton hit, people.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Were not flooding.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
It was that morning, the morning after Milton, that the
flooding began.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
And these people were shocked and angry.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
And here we are seven months following Milton, and the
shock and the anger has not worn off on these
hardworking people.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
And what have they seen. I mean, it's probably very
much like flooding at the coast. I mean, the water
came up to hear in my house and issues such
as that. So what's it been like for them?
Speaker 2 (02:10):
So terrible? I mean, so you're dealing with people number one.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
These neighborhoods are very working class, blue collar, you know,
type of neighborhoods where people work hard. You have welders,
you have teachers, you have cops, you have electricians, firefighters,
nurses and so forth. People who just work hard and
do the right thing and just get up every day
and go to work.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
These are Zone X.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
So these folks did not have, for the most part,
flood insurance. So you know, these people are number one,
had to deal with the immediate shock of being flooded,
asking those questions, the anger, the economic loss, the emotional loss,
the PTSD, the sense of frustration and isolation. It's been
a hell of a tough year for these folks, and
(02:56):
you know, we're trying to have their back as much
as we can, but it's been a very tough year
for them.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
And one of the factors that played into this was
kind of very unexpected. As I understand that one of
the pumps in one of the neighborhoods went bad, and
that's a crucial factor in keeping those neighborhoods from flooding.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
So, and again I'm not with storm water and I'm
an engineer, but from what I understood when the flooding
happened or strike, that when the electricity went out, the
pumps went out, and the backup generators were not able
to one of them, the switch did not properly switch on.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Another one did not, according to my understanding.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Have a backup generator, and that could have contributed to
the flooding from what I understand, which is obviously of
great concern.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
That's why I was able to work.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
With our friends in the county to get an independent
review on what happened and why this flooding occurred, because again,
you know, we want to rely on the experts, because again,
if I was flooded, I would want answers, and that's
what we're trying to get.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
These good people.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Now, as you mentioned, a lot of these people weren't
carrying flood insurance. I understand that the city has been
working to help them in terms of coordinating getting some
aid with the city and other levels of government involved.
Tell us about what the city has been doing to
help these people with repairs and recovery absolutely.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
So we started off by investing three point two million
dollars in a fund to help people who were flooded
and lost everything. It came through State of Florida dollars,
so there's income thresholds. We just passed another one point
eight million dollars that we're looking at investing into that
program that'll hopefully have more liberal income thresholds to help
(04:45):
out more middle class and working class people as well
as the working poor and those you know struggling to
get into the middle class and so forth. So all
of councils working together, my self, counsel Woman len Herttak,
and many others with Mayor Jenecaster.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
To try to get this done.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
And you know, we're trying to do everything that we
can to support these folks, but again it's hard. The
program is capped at twenty thousand dollars. Some will not qualify, some,
you know, the funds will run out. So ultimately, our
number one job has got to be to make sure
that the stories of these people are kept in the
public eye because guess what, seven months after Milton or so,
(05:24):
that the misery and the isolation continues for these hard
working families.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Are some of these folks facing the possibility of having
to move out of their homes and maybe move out
of the city.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Absolutely, I know some that already have very sad stories.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
And that's the larger issue, which is in North.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Tampa, you're dealing with a community which is one of
the few places in the city at Tampa where there's
workforce housing, where there's affordable housing, or if you're an
everyday working family again, electrician, a welder, whatever it may be,
you can afford to buy a home there.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Eventually, I fear that the aftermath.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Of Milton is going to price a lot of these
families out of the communities that they helped build, which
is why we pass that money. But I do know
of people because guess what, if you're an administrative assistant,
if you're a nurse, if you're a teacher, you can't
afford to pay your mortgage and then still afford to
live somewhere else. At the same time, I know people
(06:21):
that as of the last few months, still been sleeping
on couches of their friends' homes, They're sleeping in their
parents' places outside of North Tampa.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
It's heartbreaking.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
It's heartbreaking in terms of infrastructure and engineering. What's the
city looking at to try to avoid a situation like
this in the future. And what lessons do you think
other cities that may be inland and maybe not thinking
that they're in the first line of defense for a
flood situation in a hurricane, what lessons should they draw
(06:52):
from this situation?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
So great question.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
So immediately, obviously, my constituents wanted to make sure that
we had back up pump generators, and so we work
with Mayre Castro to make sure that all areas that
were affected by flooding in the North Tampa area for
this storm season will have those pump generators. They're available
and working. And that's a promise that the administration made
to the community that is carried through and that's great.
(07:17):
You know, I think the lesson the lessons are really
going to be drawn by the independent review that's happening
right now by Black and Beach, which is, you know,
the things that went wrong to during this storm season,
and there's a whole spectrum of things that could have
been wrong. It could be that this was the storm
of the century and this would have happened no matter what.
It could have been that the pumps the lack of
(07:38):
functioning pumps were entirely to blame for the flooding, or
it could be somewhere in the middle, which is, had
the pumps been there, the flooding would have been ten
inches instead.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Of four feet. Again, on that, I want to.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Rely upon what the experts are going to say, but
I would say at this time, communities can learn that
to take nothing for granted when you're dealing with the
kind of storms that we're seeing.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Take nothing for granted. Make sure that maintenance is done,
and make.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Sure that you have that long term project and long
term vision on all areas in your community.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
But take nothing for granted.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Tampa City Councilman Luis Vieira talking about how his district
in North Tampa and New Tampa and that area of
the city was impacted by the flooding in a lot
of ways. Unexpected and unprecedented flooding during Hurricane Milton. Councilman
Vieira thank you very much for joining us.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Thank you, sir. Pleasures all here, Thank you, sir,
Gordon Bird here with Beyond the News. We're looking at
another hurricane season and we all know about the dangers
of storm surge flooding at the coast. The Tampa Bay
area is recovering from two hurricanes in twenty twenty four.
One of those, named Milton, caused extensive flooding far away
from the coast thanks to rainfall. Tampa City Councilman Luis
Vieira represents a district on the north side of the
(00:22):
City of Tampa that suffered unexpected flooding from Milton, and
it's something to keep in mind, particularly if you live
in a neighborhood or a community, or a city or
a county that isn't next to the water. Councilman Vieira
joins us, now welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Sir, Yes, sir, thank you so much for having me, Bordon,
real pleasure.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Now, when you think of flooding from a hurricane around
Tampa Bay, you would think first of the neighborhoods in
your city that are close to the bay and close
to the waterline, areas like South Tampa Bay Shore near
the airport, Palmetto Beach, Davis Island, Harbor Island, and so on.
Your district I think is probably the most inland part
of the city of Tampa, and yet there was extensive
(01:01):
flooding during Milton. Tell me about what was going on
there and what your constituents have been dealing with.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Yes, sir, so again, a great pleasure to be here.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
You know, in October when Milton hit, we were shocked
to find that there was flooding that happened in the
North Tampa area and neighborhoods of hardworking people like Forest Hills,
like Overlook, the University area, communities like Timber Falls off
of one hundred and thirteenth Street. Like you said, these
are neighborhoods that are in Zone X. They're not typically
prone to flood at all. So people were very shocked.
(01:34):
The big thing with this is the evening that Milton hit, people.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Were not flooding.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
It was that morning, the morning after Milton, that the
flooding began.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
And these people were shocked and angry.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
And here we are seven months following Milton, and the
shock and the anger has not worn off on these
hardworking people.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
And what have they seen. I mean, it's probably very
much like flooding at the coast. I mean, the water
came up to hear in my house and issues such
as that. So what's it been like for them?
Speaker 2 (02:10):
So terrible? I mean, so you're dealing with people number one.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
These neighborhoods are very working class, blue collar, you know,
type of neighborhoods where people work hard. You have welders,
you have teachers, you have cops, you have electricians, firefighters,
nurses and so forth. People who just work hard and
do the right thing and just get up every day
and go to work.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
These are Zone X.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
So these folks did not have, for the most part,
flood insurance. So you know, these people are number one,
had to deal with the immediate shock of being flooded,
asking those questions, the anger, the economic loss, the emotional loss,
the PTSD, the sense of frustration and isolation. It's been
a hell of a tough year for these folks, and
(02:56):
you know, we're trying to have their back as much
as we can, but it's been a very tough year
for them.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
And one of the factors that played into this was
kind of very unexpected. As I understand that one of
the pumps in one of the neighborhoods went bad, and
that's a crucial factor in keeping those neighborhoods from flooding.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
So, and again I'm not with storm water and I'm
an engineer, but from what I understood when the flooding
happened or strike, that when the electricity went out, the
pumps went out, and the backup generators were not able
to one of them, the switch did not properly switch on.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Another one did not, according to my understanding.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Have a backup generator, and that could have contributed to
the flooding from what I understand, which is obviously of
great concern.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
That's why I was able to work.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
With our friends in the county to get an independent
review on what happened and why this flooding occurred, because again,
you know, we want to rely on the experts, because again,
if I was flooded, I would want answers, and that's
what we're trying to get.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
These good people.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Now, as you mentioned, a lot of these people weren't
carrying flood insurance. I understand that the city has been
working to help them in terms of coordinating getting some
aid with the city and other levels of government involved.
Tell us about what the city has been doing to
help these people with repairs and recovery absolutely.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
So we started off by investing three point two million
dollars in a fund to help people who were flooded
and lost everything. It came through State of Florida dollars,
so there's income thresholds. We just passed another one point
eight million dollars that we're looking at investing into that
program that'll hopefully have more liberal income thresholds to help
(04:45):
out more middle class and working class people as well
as the working poor and those you know struggling to
get into the middle class and so forth. So all
of councils working together, my self, counsel Woman len Herttak,
and many others with Mayor Jenecaster.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
To try to get this done.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
And you know, we're trying to do everything that we
can to support these folks, but again it's hard. The
program is capped at twenty thousand dollars. Some will not qualify, some,
you know, the funds will run out. So ultimately, our
number one job has got to be to make sure
that the stories of these people are kept in the
public eye because guess what, seven months after Milton or so,
(05:24):
that the misery and the isolation continues for these hard
working families.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Are some of these folks facing the possibility of having
to move out of their homes and maybe move out
of the city.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Absolutely, I know some that already have very sad stories.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
And that's the larger issue, which is in North.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Tampa, you're dealing with a community which is one of
the few places in the city at Tampa where there's
workforce housing, where there's affordable housing, or if you're an
everyday working family again, electrician, a welder, whatever it may be,
you can afford to buy a home there.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Eventually, I fear that the aftermath.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Of Milton is going to price a lot of these
families out of the communities that they helped build, which
is why we pass that money. But I do know
of people because guess what, if you're an administrative assistant,
if you're a nurse, if you're a teacher, you can't
afford to pay your mortgage and then still afford to
live somewhere else. At the same time, I know people
(06:21):
that as of the last few months, still been sleeping
on couches of their friends' homes, They're sleeping in their
parents' places outside of North Tampa.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
It's heartbreaking.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
It's heartbreaking in terms of infrastructure and engineering. What's the
city looking at to try to avoid a situation like
this in the future. And what lessons do you think
other cities that may be inland and maybe not thinking
that they're in the first line of defense for a
flood situation in a hurricane, what lessons should they draw
(06:52):
from this situation?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
So great question.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
So immediately, obviously, my constituents wanted to make sure that
we had back up pump generators, and so we work
with Mayre Castro to make sure that all areas that
were affected by flooding in the North Tampa area for
this storm season will have those pump generators. They're available
and working. And that's a promise that the administration made
to the community that is carried through and that's great.
(07:17):
You know, I think the lesson the lessons are really
going to be drawn by the independent review that's happening
right now by Black and Beach, which is, you know,
the things that went wrong to during this storm season,
and there's a whole spectrum of things that could have
been wrong. It could be that this was the storm
of the century and this would have happened no matter what.
It could have been that the pumps the lack of
(07:38):
functioning pumps were entirely to blame for the flooding, or
it could be somewhere in the middle, which is, had
the pumps been there, the flooding would have been ten
inches instead.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Of four feet. Again, on that, I want to.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Rely upon what the experts are going to say, but
I would say at this time, communities can learn that
to take nothing for granted when you're dealing with the
kind of storms that we're seeing.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Take nothing for granted. Make sure that maintenance is done,
and make.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Sure that you have that long term project and long
term vision on all areas in your community.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
But take nothing for granted.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Tampa City Councilman Luis Vieira talking about how his district
in North Tampa and New Tampa and that area of
the city was impacted by the flooding in a lot
of ways. Unexpected and unprecedented flooding during Hurricane Milton. Councilman
Vieira thank you very much for joining us.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Thank you, sir. Pleasures all here, Thank you, sir,
Popular Podcasts
Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes present: Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial
Introducing… Aubrey O’Day Diddy’s former protege, television personality, platinum selling music artist, Danity Kane alum Aubrey O’Day joins veteran journalists Amy Robach and TJ Holmes to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation. Join them throughout the trial as they discuss, debate, and dissect every detail, every aspect of the proceedings. Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise, as only she is qualified to do given her first-hand knowledge. From her days on Making the Band, as she emerged as the breakout star, the truth of the situation would be the opposite of the glitz and glamour. Listen throughout every minute of the trial, for this exclusive coverage. Amy Robach and TJ Holmes present Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial, an iHeartRadio podcast.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!