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Why Tampa Is So Vulnerable to Hurricane Milton

Tampa, Florida is the most vulnerable US city to hurricane damage. Delays to floodwater defenses and relentless development only made the situation worse.

The shallow coastal shelf and bay’s narrow mouth could combine with hurricane-force winds to send vast quantities of water into a heavily built-up shoreline where half of the population lives less than 10 feet above sea level. Flooding after Hurricane Idalia in 2023 revealed that stormwater pipes were unmaintained, blocked by debris, and not equipped to push out floodwaters effectively, according to reporting in the Tampa Bay Times. Other Pinellas County flood defense projects vetoed by DeSantis include plans to install power backups at sewer pumps, purchase emergency generators for fire stations, reroute stormwater, and defend a theater from floodwater.

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