There have been no named storms since Debby, but August 2024 was still one of the wettest on record! — Neighborhood News

While working on the stories for this issue, I had to make several trips to The Grill at Morris Bridge and Johnny C's Italian Eatery on Cross Creek Blvd. at Morris Bridge Rd. and discovered what seemed like a new feature in my iPhone's “Maps” app. For the first time that I can remember, the Maps app offered me alternate routes from our Silversaw Apartments to these restaurants to “avoid flood warnings.”

Wait, what? I know we've had a lot of rain over the last few weeks (more on that below), but I don't recall being warned to “avoid flood warnings” after some of our hurricanes hit — and the only major named storm to hit Florida that wasn't even that bad here was Hurricane Debby, which made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane near Steinhatchee, FL — more than 150 miles north of here — and hit our area with really only mild tropical storm-force winds on August 5th.

While there have been many days of heavy rain since then, and I've heard many reports of severe flooding in South Tampa, very few major roads have been flooded — and I've driven a lot in the area over the past few weeks and haven't seen any flooding like that.

Of course, I didn't drive the roads through the communities of New Tampa either, but stuck mostly to Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., Cross Creek Blvd., Morris Bridge Rd. (which I thought would be most prone to flooding), and County Line Rd., but those were the exact roads my iPhone maps app told me to avoid.

I was pretty baffled when the app's “route recommendation” to The Grill a few days before press time suggested I take I-75 north from the SR 56 exit (where I live), then take SR 54 east to Morris Bridge Rd. and then turn south onto Cross Creek Blvd. This trip would have taken me 35 minutes, however, instead of the 21 minutes it would have taken the fastest route (I-75 south to the BBD exit, north on BBD to Cross Creek Blvd. and east toward Morris Bridge).

And I have been offered such detours almost every day for the last two weeks. Of course, I always took the quickest routes instead – and never saw a single flooded road!

So what's going on? Did my maps app suddenly start drinking?

I honestly have no idea, but I thought I would at least try to get to the bottom of it and ask you, our loyal readers, if you have had to deal with flooding in or around your New Tampa communities. Here's what I found out:

Almost record-breaking rainfall

Spectrum Bay News 9 posted a chart on its website stating that Tampa would see its second or third highest rainfall total on record in August 2024, with 17.78 inches of rain, less than an inch shy of the city's all-time August record of 18.59 inches set in 1949. The article accompanying the chart stated, “The average rainfall total in a typical August is about 8 to 9 inches. There have been some unofficial observations of as much as 29 inches in August!”

Of course, the official rainfall numbers come from Tampa International Airport, more than 20 miles from the southern tip of New Tampa in Tampa Palms. Still, the question remains, how different could the rainfall amounts really have been here, and how does that explain why my map app wants me to drive miles out of my way every day to “avoid flood warnings”?

As someone who hasn't had to drive young children to school in decades, I can only imagine how difficult it must be to drive the kids to and from school in this weather, especially with all the inattentive drivers on the roads these days.

In other words, be extra careful out there, whether you have kids or not, and no matter where you're going. And please don't try to speed through if you think there's a lot of standing water. It's never happened to me, but I know a lot of people whose engines have flooded and their vehicles have been stranded as a result.

But from what I've seen so far, you should take these flood warning avoidance messages in the apps you use with a grain of salt.

I kind of feel like the boy who cried wolf. If I continue to never have to deal with flooding despite being warned every day, what will happen if I ignore the warning one time when I should have?

And just because we haven't experienced a major storm this year's hurricane season, don't assume our area is over the edge when it comes to storm danger. The next few weeks are the peak of the season, so keep flashlights and portable generators handy, stock up on drinking water and nonperishable foods, and do everything you can to keep your family safe.

I'm really interested in hearing from any of you who have already experienced flooding in your New Tampa neighborhood over the past few weeks. If so, you can either email me at [email protected] or send me a message on our Neighborhood News Facebook page! I will post any news I receive – whether you have experienced flooding or not – in our next edition.