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The New Orleans mayor is addressing an issue at a pump station following flash flooding Tuesday in New Orleans. rcbo 16a
The Sewerage and Water Board said in a statement issued Tuesday night that an issue with an electrical breaker happened at Drainage Pumping Station 12 near Pontchartrain Boulevard and Allen Toussaint Boulevard.
This pump services Lakeview, where a majority of the flooding.
According to Mayor LaToya Cantrell, the breaker tripped off for an hour around 5 p.m.
Cantrell said this happened when flood water was still high in the area.
You can read the full statement from the Sewerage and Water Board here:
"Overall the drainage pumping system performed as designed today. Initial reports from drainage supervisors this evening at Drainage Pumping Station 12 near Ponchartrain Blvd. and Allen Toussaint Blvd. show there was an issue with the electrical breaker at DPS 12 where the pump at this station went offline at around 5 p.m. for about an hour.
"During this time, elevation of the canal was low enough to continue to drain and retain the rainwater that was draining from the streets.
"When rain intensities are high – over one inch an hour – residents may see localized street flooding. SWBNO’s drainage system can handle one inch of rain per hour and a half or inch of rain each hour after that. That means 3 inches of rain can take up to 5 hours to drain - see attached graphic.
"In parts of Lakeview, there were rain totals as high as 4.82 inches at DPS 7, which is near Marconi Drive and Interstate 610, 3.84 inches of rain at DPS 6 near Metairie Road and 2.09 inches of rain near DPS 12.
"We are committed to improving our operations and after each rain event we conduct a full after-action report to see where operations can improve. During today’s storm we identified ways that we can refresh station operator training to help them recognize and troubleshoot issues in the future."
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