NEW ORLEANS — There isn't much that can stop a parade in New Orleans, but in this case, the marching bands met their match.
A sinkhole opened up on NOMTOC's parade route last November, forcing the Westbank krewe to re-route.
“They can put all the resources in right now. I don't know if they can pull that off in time for the parade," NOMTOC President James Henderson Jr. said. "We're not expecting a miracle.”
They only have to move one block though.
Now, as the parade goes up Nunez Street, they will turn left on Socrates instead of Lamarque. The parade will then turn right on Teche and get back on track.
“We’re only detouring one block to Socrates," Henderson said. "We're not leaving Algiers. We're not going to the east bank. It's just a detour. One block.”
It wasn't the parade that neighbors were worried about when that sinkhole opened up at the corner of Nunez and Lamarque last November though.
Carolyn Hayes is worried neighborhood kids could fall in and hurt themselves.
“They should have been out here with this," Hayes said. "That’s very dangerous.”
Right now, only a few traffic cones and yellow flags mark the sinkhole. Hayes says that's not enough to stop a car, bus or child on a bike from falling in. And she doesn't expect it to be fixed any time soon.
"You don’t ever know how long it’s going to be there," she said. "You know, I hate to say it but that’s the truth.”
And when NOMTOC rolls on the Saturday before Mardi Gras, she just hopes that people will follow their lead and avoid the sinkhole.
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