NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board officials announced a reduction of power ahead of the rain expected to fall over the weekend.
Officials alerted customers on Friday, Dec. 8 that in anticipation of the rainfall, two turbines will be temporarily out of order, which will reduce the generation capacity from 25Hz power to 28MW.
The reduction equals 63% of SWBNO’s peak generation demand of 44MW.
While officials say the reduction of power will not affect the number of pumps available, it will slow the utility’s ability to pump runoff from the city streets.
The warning comes after the Dec. 2 rainfall left streets flooded once Turbine No. 4 failed because of a mechanical issue while Turbine No. 5 was already offline because of a mechanical issue.
“Well, it was like six o’clock in the morning. I walked down the stairs, and it looked like there was a lake in front of the whole street,” said Tony Le, who lives on Robert Street in the Broadmoor neighborhood.
As a result of the flooding, Le’s vehicle and home flooded.
Although officials say they’re prepared for yet another rainy Saturday, some who live in Broadmoor say they’re approaching this weekend differently from last.
“There’s just not a reliable warning system,” neighbor Sam Foster said. “So, as a result, if it were me, I would take my car, and I’d go drive it on the neutral ground. I think waiting for the city to give you the green light is always too little, too late.”
However, some no longer have a vehicle to worry about.
“I really don’t have a car right now, and the house, I don’t even know what to do, so right now, [I’m] just filing claims I guess.”
Some neighbors’ property wasn’t damaged, but they’re not testing their luck this weekend.
“Another one of our cars, we might seek higher ground, and then this conversation reminds me to go back to the hardware store and get more of that emergency flood material,” neighbor Thomas Bryan said.
SWBNO Executive Director Ghassan Korban says that with the fragile power status, they can’t be too careful with the weekend’s weather event.
“We have the power and personnel resources to handle the currently forecasted rainfall, which is one to two inches of rain over the course of several hours. However, we lack the redundancy to address greater rainfall, mechanical failures, or an Entergy loss of power. If any one of these failures happens, there is a possibility that draining the streets of New Orleans will take longer than customers are accustomed to,” said Korban.
Officials say they have already reached out to their partners at the City of New Orleans, NOLA Ready, Entergy and the National Weather Service as part of their preparations.
Sufficient power is expected to return in the coming weeks with an anticipated return date of turban five by Dec. 15.
Officials are asking residents to remain vigilant and weather-aware as they experience the reduced capability to drain stormwater.
To view the status update of the pump stations and power, visit the Sewerage and Water Board website.
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