The city works to keep water levels low.
Hurricane Milton dropped on Plant City 21 percent of a year’s rainfall. Christine Miller, Hillsborough County Commissioner for District 4, drove forward a regional study on the impacts from 2024’s double-the-average rain and the downpour from Milton on stormwater infrastructure. Nothing like the amount of water from Milton had hit the city since Hurricane Donna dropped five to 10 inches of rain in 1960. Hillsborough County engaged an outside engineering firm, Black and Veatch, to conduct the study.
A mere 10 months after Milton, on July 14 at 4:45 p.m., the National Weather Service (NWS) put out a flash flood advisory for Plant City. An advisory means anticipated flooding will not be bad enough for a warning. At 5:30 p,m., the advisory was upgraded to a flash flood warning. When a warning is issued, it is a signal for people to move to high ground. According to the National Weather Service, typical rainfall during a storm in west central Florida is less than two inches because storms normally pass through. However, the July 14 storm stalled and sat over Plant City from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The city’s weather station at the Plant City Police Department recorded 10.39 inches of rain.
The average rainfall for Plant City is 56.58 inches annually. That means, in 2025, 18.36 percent fell in just four hours. When Tampa media reported on the storm, they cited the NWA statistics that the storm was a one in a 1,000 year rain event. What the NWA statistics actually means is, in any given year, there is a .1 percent chance of that much rain falling in three hours.
After the July 14 storm, at the next Regular Meeting of the City Commission, during the time for public comments, 12 people stood to communicate different issues to the city commissioners. Most expressed concerns about flooding. Several said they had never before seen flood waters as high as they were during Hurricane Milton and the July 14 rain. One man said his house flooded on July 14, and the water was so high his couch floated. Several of the residents live in Roseland Park. No matter the neighborhood, all asked the city government to do something to stop flooding. One concern expressed was that property values could go down because of vulnerability to flooding.
The Black and Veatch engineer who reported on the Hillsborough County stormwater study stated it is unrealistic to expect a stormwater management system to handle the amount of rain the region got in such a short period. “Economically, you can’t afford to build systems to handle that.”
However, since 2000, the City of Plant City has spent big bucks to complete major projects to mitigate flooding. In 2005, the city bought land to construct the Samuel W. Cooper Park pond to control runoff stormwater to prevent flooding and clean stormwater. The city spent $2.6 million on the project. In 2011, the city spent $441,000 to stabilize and improve water flow of the East Canal between Reynolds and Baker Streets. The project straightened the canal and added gabion baskets to keep the channel slopes from eroding and impeding water flow.
In April, the city completed an improvement project in the Roseland Park neighborhood to build better roads and reduce flooding. The project reconstructed 5,000 feet of base and asphalt pavement, replaced 9,200 feet of concrete curbs, replaced 1,800 feet of 18-inch and 42-inch pipe, and replaced 22 stormwater inlets and junction boxes. The city spent $3,233,000.
The post-construction engineering report concluded, “The project was constructed as designed and is performing as intended. The design report indicated that the project would not reduce flooding of severe rainfall events due to the flood elevations within the wetland.”
In addition to large projects, city staff and equipment are in continual motion to ensure the stormwater system is working as efficiently as possible. So far in 2025, the city has cleaned a mile of ditches, cleaned four miles of canals, mowed 366 miles of canal slopes, cleaned 4.5 miles of stormwater pipes, cleaned 1,756 catch basins, and inspected 6,477 of them. Staff have also run cameras through half a mile of stormwater pipes to inspect for any blockage. “We’re maintaining over a thousand miles of slope a year, plus cleaning out hundreds of culverts and conducting hundreds more inspections, City Manager Bill McDaniel said. “That’s all real, physical, tangible work and services that we are providing to maintain the stormwater system.”
The next big thing on the way is a bathymetric study of the major city ponds. This kind of study will reveal their current state versus their original design to show what underwater maintenance is needed. Some of the waters may be more complicated than others because the records prior to the late 1960s may have gaps. The bathymetric study will cost $500,000 to $750,000. Once the city has the data in hand, it will be used as a roadmap to where a pond needs to be deepened, or widened, or other work completed to restore it to its intended flow. “A bathymetric study leads to the physical projects,” McDaniel said. “Without that, you’re trying to catch a black cat in a dark room with your eyes closed. If you want to mess it up, do it without a plan. We are going to maintain and keep things clear. At the city commission meeting, I delivered concrete proof that even in the wake of that storm event, our system worked. It drained all of that water away. Yes, there was additional flooding while the water was coming down. Even the county engineer on the regional study made the comment that these systems are not designed to handle that amount of water. It’s not always a simple case of dig another hole, or dig a deeper hole. It’s not a case of, ‘Go add two feet to that canal.’ If you dig down two feet, you might be in the groundwater. It is a very complex and complicated proposition to manage massive amounts of water that are falling on you in a very short period of time.” In the city’s next fiscal year budget, a bathymetric study of drainage canals has also been proposed.
When a different summer storm formed in Plant City two weeks ago, McDaniel kept an eye on it in real time through the city’s weather station. The rain came down at a rate of 2.28 inches per hour. If that had continued for three or four hours, places in the city would likely have flooded again. However, hanging over one place for that long is not the normal summer thunderstorm pattern, and it passed quickly, so the waters didn’t rise.
“It’s not as though we are not concerned,” McDaniel said. “As the mayor said at the city commission meeting, the flooding was not just a Plant City issue. During Milton, everything in this region flooded. We were out there. We dealt with this first person, hands-on, and there is nobody more concerned about it than we are. We live here too. Last night I made the point the team we have, worked hard no matter where they are, engineering, stormwater, public safety, everybody was contributing to the well-being of the community. It’s not like we’re ignoring this, but there are realistic limits to what you can do with that amount of water in that short of a period of time. I’m never going to be one to give people false hope. If you have 10 inches of rain fall on you in three or four hours, it’s going to create a problem, period.”
While city workers work to keep stormwater systems at 100 percent operating capacity, residents can also make a difference to help stop flooding. “If you see someone dumping into one of our canals, you need to report it,” McDaniel commented. “Call the police. Call Utilities Environmental Compliance. Call Code Enforcement. We can get out there and get it cleaned out before it becomes a hazard and it clogs up something that leads to flooding. Illegal dumping is a crime, and we can take action to enforce it if we can find out who is doing it. It’s not a victimless crime. It has an impact on the community.
