NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Heavy rain and power issues have caused flooding across the New Orleans area on Saturday, Dec. 2.
Officials with the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans said streets in Carrollton, Mid City, Central City and Lakeview are experiencing flooding due to power issues.
“I am not surprised but unhappy,” says New Orleans resident Dawn Loblaw.
“The pumps should work a little bit better, especially since this was just a little bit of rain. It wasn’t even a hurricane,” says a New Orleans resident.
Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans officials said a turbine losing power and another being offline contributed to widespread street flooding.
One homeowner says from her porch, a majority of the streets seemed to be underwater with drainage issues.
“The drain was higher up than a lot of the flooding on this part of the street. The street part was higher wherever the drains were and where ever it was really deep the drains were down there trying to suck up the water,” says the homeowner.
In a 12:30 p.m. update, officials said the canals have been pumped to normal levels for the pumping stations.
Pumps one, two, six and seven are running at reduced capacity, but without turbines four and five available, any intense rain may cause street flooding in parts of the city.
“The whole time I’ve lived here it’s been like that. You’ve got to be serious about it,” says Loblaw.
Others tell WGNO they’ve seen so much flooding and claim the cost of damage adds up.
“People deserve a better life here and everyone is trying so hard, but a lot of us don’t have a lot of money. So, we don’t have a lot of clout with City Hall. Those without clout don’t get anywhere,” says Loblaw.
“Seems to be adequate drainage in a lot of spots. I know being uptown we are kind of in a better flood area than other places and we still experience serious flooding and have some cars underwater today. I would say the drainage is a huge issue,” says New Orleans resident Jillian Parish.
New Orleans City Councilman JP Morrell says the council is requesting the Sewerage and Water Board to attend Wednesday afternoon’s utility commission meeting to address Saturday’s flooding.
“Residents should remain weather aware. Without Turbines 4 and 5 available, any intense rain will cause street flooding. Turbine 4 was built in 1915 and Turbine 5 was built in 1958,” SWBNO officials said.
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