NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — A powerful storm drenched parts of New Orleans, causing widespread street flooding.
“It seems to be like an emergency every time it rains, and I- I don’t get it,” resident Edgar Sierra said.
Downed electrical feeders that cut power to two pumping stations was partially to blame for the heavy floods, according to the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans. However, the two pumps were only down for nearly five minutes. The significant amount of rainfall was nearly impossible for the department to manage.
“It’s just very sad to see people are stranded with vacuum cleaners. You know, sucking the water out of cars, you know, because they went to sleep, and they woke up and they don’t have transportation to go to work next day,” said Sierra.
City leaders said it’s not just a question of resources, but one of trust.
“Any time you have an issue where resources can help with the problem for our citizens, you need to take a look at how you get more resources, just like we need more resources for education and recreation and housing,” Councilman Oliver Thomas said. “So, yes, getting more resources and where do we find resources is on the agenda, but also how that agency operates, how it is with the trust and confidence of the community we need.”
“I’ve been here since 1975. But it seems that lately these storms have become more pernicious, more intense, more ferocious, more, unpredictable. And there is ever more the need for water management. we need to be more, um, more on foot with the changing of, of these weather patterns.”
Thomas agrees, saying that the climate could be a big part of the flooding problem.
“I think the fact that global warming and system failure sometimes combined I think is a sense of urgency. And is it because we should sound the alert about how we make the system better, how we better understand our climate resiliency, sustainability, changes in the world and start taking the steps to protect our citizens?”
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