TAMPA, Fla. — Hurricane Milton made landfall in Tampa Bay Oct. 9. By the next morning, the inland Tampa neighborhood of Forest Hills was underwater. 

What You Need To Know

  • Hurricane Milton dumped more than a foot of water on Tampa 

  • Forest Hills, an inland city not considered a flood zone, still flooded badly

  • Water pumps failed, leading to numerous houses being inundated with water 

  • Recovery has been slow and arduous, with some home repairs having barely started 

After the hurricane dumped more than a foot of water in Tampa, pumps at a nearby pond in Forest Hills failed. Two pumps had no back-up generator — the back-up generator on a third never came on. Within hours, a neighborhood that was not in a flood zone was inundated with stormwater and sewage.

Kathy Kaestner, Forest Hills Resident: “After Hurricane Milton, Forest Hills looked like a disaster.”

Marilyn Melendez Arnett, Forest Hills Resident: “A war zone. A flooded war zone. I couldn’t get back here for three days because the streets were so flooded.” 

Rob Seal, Forest Hills Resident: “Looked like a river.”

Cathy Seal, Forest Hills Resident: “To try and explain it, even with pictures, it’s hard.”

Kaestner: “When I saw that picture (of water surrounding my house), I knew life had changed. Because I could tell at that point, all the water was in my house. Everything was obviously wet and ruined. And I knew I was going to have to deal with it.”

Cathy Seal: “Anything that was touching the floor, we could no longer use it or keep.”

Rob Seal: “I just remember my jaw dropping (seeing the flooding). We just had no idea of what was going on. I can’t explain the feeling — it was a lot.”

Water penetrated houses all over Forest Hills, including the houses belonging to Kaestner, Melendez Arnett and the Seals. All three piled up most of their belongings on their curb, destined for the dump. Because Forest Hills is not in a flood zone, few of the homeowners carried flood insurance. But that meant very little of their hurricane damage was covered by insurance.

Luis Viera, Tampa City Councilman (District 7): [via Facebook] “It’s been… hell for these families — from Town & Country, Plant City, South Tampa, North Tampa, etc. We cannot let the plight of these families who have taken life‘s worst hits get out of public view.”

Kaestner: “My rock bottom was when I realized I lost everything.”

Melendez Arnett: “My home is a complete gut, with no drywall, just studs. Concrete walls. No toilet. No bathtub. No shower.”

Rob Seal: “We had 34 years of our life piled on the curb, and we saved 20 containers of stuff. It’s almost mind-blowing to see how much stuff was on the curb.”

Cathy Seal: “There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t think about what happened here, and it’s really hard.”

Some neighbors in Forest Hills have received aid from FEMA. The city of Tampa also unanimously approved $3.2 million in disaster relief funding, which will be spread out among hurricane victims. There are some income requirements, though many in Forest Hills will qualify.

Viera: “This area took an unanticipated hit right in the face and it took us 125 days for $3 million. So if I’m a little bit emotional about that, if I have a chip on my shoulder about that, you know what? I’ve got cause.”

Kaestner: “Just want to know what happened that caused this flood…”

Rob Seal: “We 100 percent believe this was preventable. My biggest fear is if it were to happen again.”

Kaestner: “I can’t even imagine that at this point.”

Recovery has been a slow, laborious, painful process for residents in Forest Hills. Kaestner recently completed enough repairs to safely return to her house. But Melendez Arnett, who was already recovering from knee surgery and grieving the recent loss of her husband, has struggled to make progress.

Kaestner: “I feel like I’ve had two jobs: My regular full-time job and recovery has been a full-time job. Dealing with all my belongings, contractors, and trying to get back into my house as fast as I can. After all my hard work, I’ve finally been able to move back into my house.”

Melendez Arnett: “I haven’t even started to repair my home yet.”

Rob Seal: “There’s so much to navigate. Finding a GC, finding money, finding all the stuff we need to move forward.”

Melendez Arnett: “Everybody tells me ‘Oh, you’re going to have a better house. It’s going to be brand new. It’s going to be a lot nicer.’ I don’t want any of that. I just want what I had. And if I get that, I’ll be truly grateful.”