Officials say pumps working; warn of additional flood threat

With some New Orleans neighborhoods seeing 8 to 10 inches of rain falling in just a few hours Saturday (Aug. 5), the rainfall overwhelmed the ability of the Sewerage Water Board‘s 24 pump stations to keep up, though all were operating, city officials said Sunday. And they warned that additional thunderstorms could again overwhelm the city’s pumping capacity on Sunday and Monday.

The biggest threat for additional heavy rain is likely Monday afternoon, based on a morning briefing by National Weather Service forecasters, said Aaron Miller, the city’s director of homeland security and emergency preparedness, at a Sunday morning news conference at New Orleans City Hall.

“With current saturation levels of the ground and the water that we’ve seen over the last few days, any additional rain will result in quick runoff, so we want residents to be particularly aware during rains when they’re out on the roads,” Miller said.

The city has no immediate plans to request an emergency declaration from the state, but said that could change once more information on flood damage is collected, said Ryan Berni, deputy mayor for external affairs. He said city emergency officials conducted an initial windshield survey of the most damaged areas on Sunday morning, especially looking at businesses and homes that took on water, and that information reported by residents and businesses over the next few days will be added.

“There are going to be hundreds of vehicles that got water, so we know that, particularly in Lakeview, Gentilly, Mid City and Treme were hot spots for that,” he said.

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The City of New Orleans map above shows where damage has been reported from Saturday’s flooding.

City officials updated the amount of rain falling in various locations on Sunday afternoon:

• Mid City, 9.43 inches
• St. Bernard, 5.74 inches
• St. Roch, 5.62 inches
• Broadmoor, 5.49 inches
• City Park, 4.96 inches
• Lakeview, 4.71 inches
• Gentilly, 3.94 inches
• Lower 9th Ward, 3.64 inches
• Hollygrove, 2.07 inches
• Lower Coast Algiers, 1.54 inches
• New Orleans East, 0.74 inches

“Public safety is our top priority, so we are advising residents to continue to monitor weather conditions and stay alert today,” said Mayor Mitch Landrieu in a news release summarizing Saturday’s storms and the Sunday recovery plans.

“These no-notice rain and flooding events can be very dangerous, but luckily, there was no loss of life,” Landrieu said. “Today, we begin the hard work of assisting those who flooded and getting our streets passable for regular traffic. With additional rain expected today and the rest of this week, I would encourage all of our residents to clean in front of their catch basins.”

According to the news release, the 8 to 10 inches of rain that fell in some neighborhoods equated with a rainfall event that has a 1 percent chance of occurring in any year, a so-called 100-year event.

Other areas saw lesser amounts of rainfall, equaling a 10-percent chance or 10-year event.

“The rate of rainfall in many neighborhoods of the city was one of the highest recorded in recent history,” the news release said, resulting in widespread street flooding in Gentilly, Lakeview, Mid City, Treme and the Central Business District, though there were no reports of loss of life, and only minor injuries.

Sewerage Water Board officials have said city’s drainage pumping system is designed to handle an inch of rainfall during the first hour of an event and a half-inch each hour thereafter. Officials said all 24 pumping stations were on and working on Saturday. The temporary pumping stations at the ends of the 17th Street, London Avenue and Orleans Avenue canals only operate when the floodgates blocking water from Lake Pontchartrain are closed, and thus are not operated during a rainfall event. The three permanent pumping stations under construction at the ends of those canals are not yet complete, but will operate in the same way.

Officials said the city’s public safety agencies, including police, fire and emergency medical services, responded to more than 200 emergency calls related to flooding.

Sunday will see a potential repeat of heavy rainfall in brief periods across much of the New Orleans metropolitan area, warned forecasters with the Slidell office of the National Weather Service.

“Although very high rainfall amounts will not be widespread, any one isolated location could receive very high amounts from 3 to as much as 6 inches of rainfall,” forecasters said in a forecast discussion message. “This is normally not an issue if it is spread through a long period of time, but unfortunately, this amount of rainfall could again fall within a short duration for any particular area.”

The city has put a link on its web site with information on what to do after flooding, including how to file flood insurance claims. Residents are urged to document damage by taking photos:

https://nola.gov/ready/updates/heavy-rains-and-flooding-in-new-orleans-stay-safe/.  More information is available at ready.nola.gov .

New Orleans officials asked residents to report street flooding and life-threatening emergencies to 911, and to remain indoors during heavy rainfall “unless an emergency makes it absolutely necessary for them to get on the road.”

Officials also warned that motorists driving faster than 5 mph through streets with standing water would be ticketed. That warning follows several reports of flooding on Saturday being exacerbated by waves pushed into homes and businesses by vehicles driving through flooded streets.

Police said there were no road closures as of 9:30 a.m. Sunday, but said that could change, depending on additional rainfall.

“Residents are reminded to continue to use caution when driving through areas affected by yesterday’s flooding, as there are stranded vehicles, debris and potential for pooling water,” the city news release said.

Officials said residents with stranded vehicles in the middle of roadways or intersections are expected to move them immediately to the side of the road, preferably into a parking lane, and warned that the Department of Public Works and police “may have to ‘courtesy tow’ vehicles to the side of the roadway” in some cases, and in the case of vehicles abandoned on interstate or major roadway ramps, may have to be towed to the city’s impound lot. Residents won’t be charged to retrieve those vehicles, the news release said.

Folks also will be allowed to park on neutral grounds throughout the city on Sunday, as long as they don’t block intersections or park on streetcar tracks. But all vehicles must be removed from those areas by midnight Sunday, to allow for a return to normal transit operations on Monday morning.

The city asked residents to call 311 for general information and to report non-life threatening emergencies, including sidewalk and road problems and debris, between 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Sunday. The city’s sanitation collection schedule has not changed.

For properties eligible for city collection:

• During the 2nd collection this week, the Sanitation Department will pick up bulky waste including debris, carpeting and other large items. Residents are encouraged to inform 311 of bulky waste pickup needs.
• Tree limbs, branches and carpeting must be cut in four feet (or less) lengths and bundled.  Tree limbs cannot be more than 12 inches in diameter.
• Leaves should be bagged and the bags secured. 
• Garbage and recycling carts should be secured on the associated property, between collections, to avoid spillage during heavy winds, rains and flooding.

City officials said they’d made significant progress by Sunday afternoon in clearing stalled cars and opening up streets to traffic.

Intersections cleared include:

• 1600 and 1700 Basin St. at N. Claiborne Ave. 
• N. Broad St. at Orleans Ave. 
• N. Broad St. at Esplanade Ave. 
• Tulane Ave. at S. Broad Ave. 
• Tulane Ave. at Jefferson Davis Pkwy. 
• Bienville St. at Jefferson Davis Pkwy. 
• N. Broad Ave. at St. Bernard Ave. 
• St. Bernard Ave. to N. Claiborne Ave. 
• N. Claiborne Ave. (Both sides to Canal St.)

Areas cleared or in progress include:

• A.P. Tureaud Ave. 
• Broad St. (A.P. Tureaud Ave. to Tulane Ave.) 
• N. Claiborne Ave. (Poydras St. to Elysian Fields Ave.) 
• Frenchmen St. 
• Rampart St. (Canal St. to Esplanade Ave.) 
• Elysian Fields Ave. (Decatur St. to N. Claiborne Ave) 
• Esplanade Ave. (Decatur St. to Rampart St.) 
• Canal St. (City Park Ave. to N. Claiborne Ave.) 
• St. Bernard St. (I-610 to Carrollton Ave.) 
• Tulane Ave. (Claiborne Ave. to Carrollton Ave.) 
• Earhart Expressway/Calliope St. (Convention Center Blvd. to Orleans Parish Line) 

 

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