Mayor discusses hurricane response, ‘agile resiliency’

Mayor Ken Welch discussed a wide range of storm-related topics – including historic debris collection efforts in St. Petersburg and government transparency – Thursday afternoon from his office in City Hall.

He also announced his vision for an Agile Resiliency Plan, as the city must adapt to a “rapidly changing environment.”

In the immediate future, officials will continue focusing on assisting residents, coordinating recovery efforts with state and federal agencies and assessing and repairing public facilities. Initial estimates pegged municipal losses from Hurricanes Helene and Milton at over $88 million.

“When we talk about the new reality of where we build, how we build and what we invest in our infrastructure – we’re at the point of having those conversations,” Welch said. “The resilience of our city is the most important thing we’re focused on right now.”

Agile resilience

Welch credited his predecessors for incorporating climate change and increasingly severe weather impacts into previous projects. He also realizes the city must reallocate resources to mitigate a “more extreme threat.”

The mayor’s solution is an Agile Resiliency Plan that outlines investments, policies and resources needed to combat increasing environmental hazards. He compared it to St. Petersburg’s version of the Marshall Plan, a sweeping initiative that helped rebuild Western European cities, infrastructure and industries following World War II.

Welch noted that the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council and local leaders, led by Councilmember Brandi Gabbard and County Commissioner Janet Long, have already laid the plan’s foundation.

“We’ve dedicated $740 million over the next five years for resiliency and mitigation projects,” Welch added. “I plan to ask the council to increase that amount to meet the need.”

Fire rescue personnel paddled to reach flood victims in Hurricane Helene. Photo: City of St. Petersburg.

Efforts to storm-harden the Northeast Water Reclamation Facility – rendered useless during Helene and Milton – underscores St. Petersburg’s new climate reality. It can withstand a seven-foot storm surge, which the city had never experienced until Helene.

An under-construction $70 million project will increase the facility’s storm surge resiliency to 11 feet. Meteorologists expected Milton to swamp the area with a 12-to-15-foot wall of water.

“Our plans have to be agile, and they have to be adjusted with the impacts of sea-level rise,” Welch said. “It’s happening quicker than we anticipated.”

Residents, especially those in low-lying neighborhoods, must also adapt. Welch said it is time to have some “tough conversations” with stakeholders in “severe, repetitive loss areas” that were previously able to survive a changing climate.

Administrators are working with local congressional leaders and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to, hopefully, identify a “reasonable solution” for thousands of residents forced to rebuild according to new flood and wind standards, or sell their homes to the highest bidder.

“It doesn’t matter what you call it – it’s here, and we need to deal with it,” Welch said of climate change. “We thought these would be 2100, 2050 impacts. Those impacts are happening right now, and it’s time for that conversation.”

Debris Collection

Welch said the city has cleared about 11% of debris piled alongside roadways in every neighborhood. The 186,000 cubic yards collected have already doubled the amount caused by Hurricane Ian.

Crews are clearing 22,000 cubic yards daily, more than the amount caused by Hurricane Idalia. Welch pledged that the city would clear “more debris than we’ve ever removed in this city” within 90 days.

He believes the final tally will top one million cubic yards. The city hopes to receive a full FEMA reimbursement of over $100 million for the work – provided residents properly separate their debris.

Welch pushed back against recent collection criticism from the Shore Acres Neighborhood Association’s president. He said one person would not dictate a “very sophisticated” process throughout St. Petersburg.

“You need an adult in charge focused on getting the work done,” Welch added. “This isn’t my first ride. You have to stay focused on the task at hand, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

The city, with the help of 100 “Hometown Haulers,” has already collected 10 times more debris than it did after Hurricane Idalia. Screengrab, City of St. Petersburg.

Community engagement

To some residents’ dismay, the mayor has not held a public briefing since Oct. 12. Welch noted he led several as Milton approached, met with congressional leaders in decimated areas after the storm and that administrators “in the field” have provided video reports.

The city council met one time, on Oct. 3, since Sept. 19. Members were set to discuss issuing bonds that will help pay for a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium – and Milton’s lack of an impact on those plans – Thursday. Officials postponed the meeting the day before.

Council meetings are outside of the mayor’s purview. “There were so many things happening that I guess a decision was made that last week’s meeting needed to be postponed,” Welch said.

Many city officials and staffers suffered storm damage and left their homes in disrepair to help assist the community. Welch stressed the importance of providing productive resources for constituents rather than coming together “for a meeting without any new answers.”

“We’ve always been transparent, whether the news is good or bad,” Welch said. “Our folks have been out in the community since day one.”

He said the administration would also “focus on communication and information sharing as we move forward.” Welch plans to host five community meetings, like the City Hall on Tour events, in the coming weeks to garner feedback and bolster recovery efforts.