In the Shore Acres neighborhood of St. Petersburg, rising water has become a constant threat. Many residents cannot afford to elevate their homes or m

Their Florida ‘Paradise’ Keeps Flooding, but Some Can’t Afford a Solution

submited by

Style Pass

2024-06-05 21:00:18

In the Shore Acres neighborhood of St. Petersburg, rising water has become a constant threat. Many residents cannot afford to elevate their homes or move.

Hurricane Idalia came ashore last August some 200 miles north of Jennifer Connell-Wandstrat’s neighborhood in St. Petersburg, Fla., but her ranch-style home flooded with nine inches of water that ruined her appliances, doors, dry wall, floors and furniture. She still sleeps on a mattress on the living room floor with her youngest daughter.

Such an ordeal might have once seemed unlikely to ever happen again, at least in a resident’s lifetime. But Ms. Connell-Wandstrat is under no such illusion.

She lives in Shore Acres, a low-lying enclave at the edge of Tampa Bay where streets are broad, homes are comfortable — and floodwater has become a constant threat.

“Now it’s a real fear,” said Ms. Connell-Wandstrat, whose home has flooded twice in three years. “When’s it going to happen next?”