Their ‘paradise’ keeps flooding, but some can’t afford a solution

came ashore last August some 200 miles north of Jennifer Connell-Wandstrat’s neighbourhood in St. Petersburg, Florida, but her ranch-style home flooded with 23 centimetres of water that ruined her appliances, doors, drywall, floors and furniture. She still sleeps on a mattress on the living room floor with her youngest daughter.

“Now it’s a real fear,” said Connell-Wandstrat, whose home has flooded twice in three years. “When’s it going to happen next?” Some have chosen to leave; “for sale” signs dot almost every block. Others are elevating their homes or razing them and rebuilding higher; imposing three-story structures now stand next to the older, one-story houses.But many residents, like Connell-Wandstrat, cannot afford to lift up their homes or retreat.

After Hurricane Idalia, residents pressed the city to do more. St. Petersburg has since started to install nearly $4 million worth of new equipment to prevent saltwater from pushing up into drainage pipes in the neighbourhood, with more projects planned.Still, Tankersley said that the projects underway were “a Band-Aid”. Everyone in Shore Acres knows that the best solution other than leaving is to build higher, which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Melissa Watson, 46, a surgical nurse, bought her cheery blue house in 2021. She left Ohio for Florida in 2018 after surviving cancer and a divorce. She had lost bids for 17 other houses before her offer was accepted in Shore Acres.Zack Wittman/The New York Times To fix the water damage, insurance offered to pay $US52,000 to $US58,000 ; contractors told her the work would cost $US65,000 to $US75,000. She could not afford to elevate the house but raised her air conditioner and power outlets with an eye towards the next flood.“My neighbours are selling. I don’t have neighbours across the street. There’s a monstrosity being built right behind me,” she said. “I fear for what this neighbourhood is going to end up like.

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