TAMPA, Fla. (WFTS) — Since Hurricane Milton devastated the Forest Hills neighborhood in October 2024, I have covered countless stories from this community: families who lost everything, families in the middle of rebuilding, and the city's efforts to prevent it from ever happening again. On Tuesday, Tampa officials gathered at the Forest Hills wastewater pump station to announce a $2.2 million upgrade aimed at making the neighborhood more resilient against future storms.
The project is funded through the city's PIPES Program, a $3 billion infrastructure initiative approved by the Tampa City Council in 2019. Since its launch, the city's wastewater department has invested nearly $120 million in pumping station rehabilitation projects across Tampa, rehabilitating 33 stations to date.
WATCH: Tampa invests $2.2 million to upgrade Forest Hills wastewater pump station after Milton flooding
The Forest Hills station, built in 1963, is one of those 33. Like many of Tampa's older pump stations, it was built with electrical components housed underground, a design flaw that made it vulnerable during major storms.
"We are strengthening Tampa from the ground up for today's needs and for the challenges of tomorrow," Mayor Jane Castor said. "Aging pipes and extreme weather events that strain our systems, like the hurricanes of 2024, have made our vulnerabilities clear but also reasserted the value of our PIPES Program, which has allowed us to make critical investments in our infrastructure."
Tampa has 228 wastewater lift stations across the city. During hurricanes Helene and Milton, 7 stations sustained damage, all of them built with the same underground electrical design as the Forest Hills station.
Wastewater Director Eric Weiss said the upgrades at the Forest Hills station will address those vulnerabilities directly.
"The mission statement of the wastewater department is to protect health and the environment, and do it in a cost-effective manner," Weiss said.
Key improvements include converting the station to a modern submersible pumping station, elevating the electrical building 9 feet above ground, adding a third pump for improved redundancy, and installing a permanent generator with a 600-gallon fuel tank capable of providing three to four days of uninterrupted operation without refueling.
The existing station operated with 2 pumps, one for normal daily flow and a second that activated during tropical weather events. The third pump will serve as a backup during those same events to ensure the station keeps pace with increased flow.
Johnny Granger of Granger Construction, the contractor on the project, said work began in April, and he is hopeful it will be completed ahead of the projected 2027 deadline.
"I'd like to thank the mayor and city of Tampa for funding these infrastructure projects because not only are they a benefit to the community, they're a benefit to contractors like myself and our employees by providing good jobs," Granger said.
The station serves 534 properties, including homes, businesses, and schools.
Councilman Luis Viera, who represents the Forest Hills area, acknowledged the toll the flooding took on residents he described as the "working-class backbone of Tampa."
"The flooding residents in the working-class backbone of Tampa, North Tampa, experienced after Hurricane Milton showed us the importance of making our infrastructure resilient for hurricanes," Viera said. "Supporting this hard-working community of good people through the stages of recovery has made it evident that people's livelihoods depend on our systems and we must do all we can to make sure our infrastructure is ready for the next hurricane. It is coming, and it will happen, and we have to be ready."
Viera also noted that the city passed approximately $5 million in housing assistance following the 2024 storms, with nearly half directed to the North Tampa area. He said Tampa was the only regional local government to provide that assistance using local municipal dollars.
While the wastewater upgrades are a significant step, Castor said the flooding Forest Hills experienced during Milton was largely a stormwater issue. Forest Hills sits in a low-lying area where water from surrounding stormwater ponds, including Curiosity Creek, drains into the neighborhood. The city has placed backup generators at pump stations at Lake Eccles, Penalty Lake, and East Ridge to move stormwater through the neighborhood more quickly during future storm events.
In the meantime, the city is renting generators, as it did ahead of the 2025 hurricane season, to have them ready to deploy at stormwater pumping stations until permanent generators are installed.
Castor urged all Florida residents to consider purchasing flood insurance, regardless of whether they live in a designated flood zone.
"Anybody that has a state of Florida driver's license should invest in flood insurance," Castor said. "If you're not in a flood zone and you buy flood insurance, it's relatively inexpensive, and that's a great insurance policy to have."
For residents still anxious heading into the peak of hurricane season, Castor acknowledged the fear is understandable but said the city is doing everything it can to prepare.
"Hope isn't a strategy," Castor said. "We always hope we won't get hit. So we're doing our best to prepare our communities to make sure that we are as resilient as possible."
Forest Hills resident Kathy Kaestner was also present at Tuesday's announcement. Kaestner, whose home flooded during Milton, said seeing the infrastructure upgrades underway brings her some comfort.
"I'm glad they made it a priority," Kaestner said. "It's good to see some new infrastructure."
Kaestner, who has lived in the neighborhood for 32 years, said she did not realize before Milton that the pump station ran on electricity.
"I didn't even realize that the system ran on electricity," Kaestner said. "Something the average person doesn't really think about. You just assume it goes down the pipes and it gets where it needs to go."
She said she remains concerned about heavy rainfall this winter and wants to make sure generators are in place and operational before then.
"I'm still concerned about all the rain that's going to come in the winter time," Kaestner said. "That's why I'm concerned about the permanent generators or any generators being in place and working."
The Forest Hills wastewater pump station rehabilitation project is expected to be completed in early 2027.
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Jada Williams is focused on the issues that matter most to people in who live in Tampa and West Hillsborough County. From downtown Tampa to Town ‘n’ Country and Westchase, Jada works to bring you updates and solutions on everything from crime to infrastructure. Reach out to Jada below with your concerns for your neighborhood.
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