NEW ORLEANS — A year and a half after the flooding of July and August 2017, the city has started on a different approach to reduce the amount of flooding in Mid-City and Treme.
This week, crews working with the Sewerage and Water Board and the Department of Public Works began construction on the "Hagan Lafitte Drainage Upgrades & Green Infrastructure" project, which will place water storage tanks underneath the Easton Park playground.
Residents in Mid-City and Treme reacted positively to the project and told Eyewitness News they can easily remember the Aug. 5 flooding from two summers ago.
"It was waist deep for the August 5 flood here," said Allie Abel, who has lived in Mid-City for more than five years. "Just a few more inches and it would have been inside the house."
Before Aug. 5, Abel said the area did not traditionally flood. Still, she said she was pleased that the city was taking steps to reduce the risk of flooding.
Ramsey Green, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer in Mayor LaToya Cantrell's cabinet, called the endeavor a "sophisticated drainage project."
"[It's] to ensure the streets in this neighborhood don't flood like they have in the past, specifically August 5," Green said.
The $7.5 million dollar project is expected to increase drainage and reduce flooding, according to Green. It will also utilize green infrastructure to retain and absorb storm water.
"This park is going to have massive containers underneath the grass once it's in there and then those containers drain into the St. Louis Relief Canal," Green said.
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City leaders said the multi-million dollar project is expected to be complete in the spring of 2020.
"This is brilliant, this is the kind of stuff we need, forward thinking people like that," said one resident named Louis.