The Florida Aquarium’s pack of corals, manatees, penguins, lemurs, alligators, free flying birds, sharks, moray eels, and moon jellies should weather this upcoming hurricane season just fine — even from their Channelside perch.
Aquafence just donated one of its flood mitigation barrier systems — i.e. the towering fence that protected Tampa General Hospital from several feet of storm surge during Hurricane Helene — to the aquarium.
The Tampa institution is shifting away from reactive solutions like plopping sandbags outside doors and emergency evacuations.
The fence should protect the 250,000-sqft center from up to 15 feet of pounding surf. Thus, ensuring the aquarium’s staff doesn’t need to shuttle some of the most endangered animals in the world to higher ground the next time a hurricane nears, said Roger Germann, president and CEO of The Florida Aquarium.
“As we saw with the most recent hurricanes to impact our region, protecting the Aquarium, which is situated on the waterfront, from a catastrophic storm surge is paramount,” Germann added.
Tampa General Hospital and Strategic Property Partners also donated toward the aquarium’s emergency preparedness effort.
