Know
Going up: $2.9 million secured to elevate flood-prone homes
Seven city homes are going up, and four more federally funded elevations are on the way.
Seven St. Petersburg homes will be elevated with nearly $2.9 million in federal funding to reduce repeated flood losses.
City Council approved seven grant agreements with the Florida Division of Emergency Management Aug. 27, allowing the city to receive up to $2,873,114.98 through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Flood Mitigation Assistance program.
The funding will reimburse costs associated with elevating the seven properties. No local match is required under this grant cycle.
St. Petersburg initiated the applications as part of an effort to reduce future damage to repetitive-loss properties within the city’s Special Flood Hazard Area. FEMA and the state subsequently awarded the seven grants.
The city will execute agreements with the participating homeowners and reimburse eligible costs incurred through their flood-mitigation projects.
Home elevation has become an important part of this region’s recovery agenda from Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
But the grants are separate from Elevate Florida, the statewide mitigation initiative that launched after the 2024 storms. That program also relies on federal funding to elevate homes and pursue other measures intended to reduce future storm losses.
State Sen. Nick DiCeglie previously told the Catalyst that about 120 St. Petersburg residents had applied to Elevate Florida. Many remained in the approval process.
In a follow-up, DiCeglie said efforts are underway at the federal level to move those applications.
He noted that Sen. Ashley Moody and Commissioner Brian Scott have been “pushing FEMA hard to process the applications” to elevate homes.
The seven grants approved by council are Flood Mitigation Assistance awards from applications initiated by the city, rather than approvals through Elevate Florida.
The council item passed as part of the consent agenda without substantive discussion. More FMA-funded elevations are expected, but the timeline remains dubious.
City staff said four additional grants were awarded from the same application period and are being prepared for council consideration. Those agreements will be presented once the city receives them.
The seven grants now moving forward provide one measure of progress as local and state officials continue trying to move additional residential mitigation projects through the federal approval process.
