HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — If you live in a coastal community in South Florida, you know how quickly heavy rain and high tide can lead to flooding on neighborhood streets.
In Hollywood, the effort to manage those floods is visible in the form of pump stations and newly built seawalls — all part of an expanding stormwater resilience plan.
“I would say what we are doing in Hollywood is very similar to what Miami-Dade and other communities are doing,” Chris Roschek, the city’s chief resiliency officer, said. “It’s an issue that affects all of us in southeast Florida. We are all coastal communities. Many are low-lying, and we’re dealing with the same issues.”
Luis Lopez, the city’s engineering support services manager, said king tides pose a particular challenge each year.
“Obviously today you are seeing king tides, and they are different every year,” Lopez said. “The seawalls keep the king tides on the water side and keep the city roads and city property dry, so that the road remains drivable and we’re able to protect private property along the public right-of-way.”
Lopez said construction is already underway on a series of seawalls around the city.
“We have exactly 20 locations scattered across the city, mostly on North and South Lake,” he said. “We have one completed out of the 20, we’re about to start construction on three next week and 16 are under contract right now. That means the rest will be started this year and completed in 2026.”
“These things are complex projects,” he added.
Roschek said the work is part of Hollywood’s larger tidal flooding mitigation efforts, including a massive stormwater master plan approved by the city commission.
“Our public utilities department is implementing a stormwater master plan, which is the most comprehensive master plan we’ve had in the history of Hollywood,” Roschek said. “It’s a $1.5 billion plan to add infrastructure, so it is underground piping, new pipes that lead to the Intracoastal Waterway — or to North and South Lake — along with additional pump stations.
“It’s a complete upgrade of our stormwater infrastructure to handle rainwater and get it off our roadways and into the stormwater system, and ultimately out to the Intracoastal.”
He added that the plan will roll out in phases over the next 20 to 30 years.
“Our public utilities department will be looking at some near-term projects, along with what we call the medium term and then the longer term,” Roschek said.
The Florida Department of Transportation is also working on a separate infrastructure resilience project in the same area, installing seawalls, stormwater pump stations, and drainage structures.
“This is a different area, but the same approach,” Lopez said. “FDOT is doing roadway work because they’re trying to put in pump stations so the systems are not just gravity-fed, but can also stop water from coming over the shoreline. They have some shorelines they control where they’re building seawalls, just as we are doing.”
This and related projects are set to be discussed in upcoming meetings at Hollywood City Hall.
At 6 p.m. on Monday, officials with Hollywood’s General Obligation Bond Committee will discuss projects underway, including tidal flooding mitigation.
Meanwhile, at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, officials will hold a community meeting with South Lake residents to discuss the seawall project.
Below are links to the city’s stormwater plan and other sustainability projects:
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