Sarasota Board to review flooding after Debby


On Tuesday Jan. 21, 9 am, the BCC will hold a workshop / discussion about the flooding after Hurricane Debby in the main Admin building, Why did Debby flood? There's a multitude of questions.

Hydrologist Steve Suau has been given 20 minutes to present his findings after doing an independent study of the flooding. He has said that he'll focus on his stormwater recommendations to the Board. 

Suau's recommendations are at this link:


While all the recommendations are important, we think these in particular need to be emphasized after the experience of Debby, followed by Helene and Milton:

3. inventory all dikes (or levees)
6. Rebuild internal technical expertise
7. proactively prioritize floodplains for planning and protection through acquisition of public easements.

Perhaps the most important of Steve's recs is:

8. Minimize Density Increases in Designated Floodplain Areas  

It is recommended that the available floodplain models and maps be used proactively to more  rigorously evaluate rezoning applications that propose to increase densities in designated  floodplains. As an example, this evaluation could include the following: 

Citizens will be allowed to provide input before and after the meeting. Anyone who wishes to speak should be present at 9 am. You'll have 3 minutes. 



Also on the very same day: Mike Hutchinson and Eileen Fitzgerald will be in a hearing for their appeal of Lakewood Ranch's expansion into Old Miakka. You can join them via remote video - details here.

Also, on Wednesday Jan. 22 at noon, the 1000 Friends of Florida will have experts talk about sprawl and fragmentation of natural wildlife corridors. 

More about this major issue and a link to register here:  https://1000fof.org/floridawildlifecorridor/

Thanks for caring - and don't forget - the DR Horton plan to build next to the Celery Fields is set for Feb. 12.

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