Suncoast Searchlight and Florida Trident address Spencer Anderson’s claims.
By Derek Gilliam/Suncoast Searchlight and Michael Barfield/Florida Trident
Original Air Date: July 11, 2025
Host: Two weeks ago, two nonprofit newsrooms exposed missteps and neglect in the county’s response to Tropical Storm Debby last year. In the few days since then, county commissioners created a standalone stormwater department and hired a director. This was followed by a longtime administrator’s resignation in the wake of the investigation. However, before those moves, Public Works Director Spencer Anderson, who was in charge of the county’s stormwater unit during Debby, pushed back on the findings during a press conference on July 1. Derek Gilliam with Suncoast Searchlight follows up on the Florida Trident and Suncoast Searchlight investigation.
Derek Gilliam: Spencer Anderson contended the county’s own policy prevented it from dredging Phillippi Creek, where years of sediment buildup from a lapse in maintenance contributed to rising flood waters that entered homes and businesses.
Anderson also pushed back on criticism of his absence in the lead-up to the storm, insisting his staff was adequately prepared. After the press conference, he also offered a surprising explanation for how he interpreted rainfall projections ahead of the flooding—an approach two forecasters later said was flawed.
Anderson additionally confirmed the county will not dredge the creek this year, after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rejected an emergency application. He expects dredging will start early in 2026.
A five-month investigation by the two nonprofit newsrooms found the county’s stormwater utility—the first in the state and long touted as the best—failed when it mattered most. Florida Trident and Suncoast Searchlight found critical staff positions were left unfilled during last year’s storms, key infrastructure like Phillippi Creek was neglected for decades, and essential flood protection protocols were ignored or forgotten—all exacerbating the damage.
Here’s a breakdown of the statements made by Anderson during the press conference—and key facts setting the record straight:
Claim: Forecasts didn’t call for historic rain
Spencer Anderson. Photo by Derek Gilliam via Suncoast Searchlight.
Anderson disputed on Monday that forecasts in advance of Tropical Storm Debby called for historic rain. He insisted the area was first projected to receive only 6 to 8 inches of rain—not the up to 14 inches that came down.
But the National Hurricane Center forecast projected “maximum totals up to 12 inches” for parts of Southwest Florida as early as three days before Debby’s arrival. 36 hours before its landfall in the Big Bend area of the Panhandle, that total had grown to a “maximum total up to 18 inches” in an updated forecast.
Phillippi Creek side channel. Photo by C. Todd Sherman via Suncoast Searchlight.
“Across portions of Florida,” the National Hurricane Center said on August 3, “this rainfall will likely result in areas of considerable flash and urban flooding, with significant river flooding expected.”
Anderson himself has repeatedly said Debby was a “historic rainfall” event, telling county commissioners at a January stormwater workshop that rainfall from Debby in a 24-hour period “produced massive flooding, historic rainfall that we have not seen.”
After the press conference, Sarasota County spokeswoman Jamie Carson clarified Anderson’s interpretation of the forecast leading up to the storm. She said he took the National Hurricane Center’s projection of up to 12 inches of rain and divided it by 3, assuming it was spread over three days—meaning he expected about 4 inches of rain per day rather than a potential 12-inch rain in a single day.
But two forecasters told Suncoast Searchlight and Florida Trident that’s not how to interpret rainfall forecasts.
The worst part of hurricanes usually happens within a day or so, said Climate Adaptation Center CEO Bob Bunting, an atmospheric scientist and a former lead forecaster with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Flooding in the Pinecraft area during Hurricane Debby.
“So, if there is 12 inches of rain predicted in a hurricane, it’s pretty much in a day It can be over three days, but Debby was well predicted [to] have near-historical rainfall, and it certainly did,” Bunting said.
Rodney Wynn, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, confirmed: “No, you don’t want to do that,” he said of dividing the rainfall projections.
Debby thrashed Sarasota County on August 5, unleashing intense rainfall that overwhelmed drainage systems and caused widespread flooding. Neighborhoods across the county were inundated, with homes, businesses and streets left underwater in one of the most severe flood events the region has seen in years.
Claim: Vacation didn’t impact storm response
Anderson pushed back on reporting that revealed he went on vacation prior to the storm.
Although he acknowledged that he left for his trip days before the storm arrived, Anderson said he came back immediately after the storm passed.
“When the rainfall came, I was [in] constant communication with county administration, and I returned that day,” Anderson told a room full of reporters Monday at the Emergency Operations Center.
Claim: Stormwater staff are qualified and experienced
Anderson defended the qualifications of his staff. He noted the 87 county employees funded through annual stormwater assessments have a combined 1,500 years of experience.
The Suncoast Searchlight and Florida Trident investigation focused on turnover and vacancies, highlighting how 1 in 5 stormwater field service positions remained unfilled prior to the last storm season.
He did not deny any of the investigation’s reporting regarding the persistent staff vacancies.
Claim: County prevented from dredging Phillippi Creek
The sandbar at the north fork of Phillippi Creek, flooded in the aftermath of Debby. Photo by Jim McWhorter via Sarasota News Leader.
Anderson told reporters at the press conference that a county ordinance from 2001 prevented it from dredging Phillippi Creek for years.
That 2001 ordinance in question focused solely on navigational dredging for boaters—not stormwater. The ordinance empowered residents along Phillippi Creek and other waterways to petition for navigational dredging and required two-thirds of affected property owners to agree to cover the cost. The program excluded any dredging aimed at improving stormwater conveyance for flood prevention.
Anderson conceded that the ordinance had proven largely ineffective, with only a single project approved in more than two decades.
Reporting for Suncoast Searchlight, Derek Gilliam. This story was written with Michael Barfield of the Florida Trident. To read the complete investigative report, go to suncoastsearchlight.org/sarasota-debby-defend-stormwater-dredging-divide-rainfall and floridatrident.org/stormwater-chief-defends-dredging-permit-and-flood-response-says-he-divided-rainfall-forecast-by-3g.
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