HERNANDO COUNTY, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council (TBRPC) wants to hear from residents about flood-prone spots in their neighborhoods.

Senior Hazard Mitigation Planner Amy Bidwell said it will help the council prioritize projects they’ll apply for grant funding for to help mitigate flooding.

TBRPC held a public meeting Thursday at Pasco-Hernando State College’s north campus. Larry Faragher said he and his wife, Carol, attended because flooding is a concern in their Hernando Beach waterfront neighborhood. 

“Idalia brought flooding issues — especially my neighbors suffered, a lot more of the single level homes that are out there. They took up four-to-five feet of water,” said Faragher of the August hurricane that brought impacts to Tampa Bay. “We were fortunate. It came over our high seawall. We have a higher seawall than our neighbors. It still came over, and we came within 3.5 inches of coming into our garages.”

Faragher said it’s the worst flooding he’s seen in 28 years in Hernando Beach.

TBRPC is conducting a vulnerability assessment for Brooksville and unincorporated Hernando County. It’s funded by the Florida Resilient Grant Program, and the goal is to hear from people what critical assets in their communities — like bridges, major roadways and water treatment plants — might be at risk of flooding. That could lead to projects to protect them.

“The whole coast of Hernando County is one, big hotspot — from Aripeka south all the way north, up to Pine Island,” said Hernando County Emergency Management Director David DeCarlo about flooding potential in the county.

DeCarlo said public input in the assessment process is key.

“It’s their community, and we want to help protect them. So, what’s important to them is important to us,” DeCarlo said.

Thursday marked the second public meeting. DeCarlo and Bidwell said no one came to the first, and only the Faraghers attended the latest.

Bidwell, project manager on the assessment, said during the meeting that ten years ago, the mention of flooding public outreach would bring people out in droves. She brought up the possibility of moving meetings like Thursday night’s into impacted neighborhoods. The Faraghers said they think that will help.

“If they bring the program right to the neighborhoods that’s going to have possible effects from these floods or from whatever type of damage we’re talking about, that’s where you need to really educate the citizens, and I think they’ll come out,” Faragher said.

 In the meantime, he and Carol brought assessments home to try to give to neighbors to get their input.

Residents can also fill out the assessment online.