NEW ORLEANS — Four of New Orleans' 120 drainage pumps temporarily lost power as thunderstorms dumped heavy rain on the city Thursday.
The thunderstorms dropped as many as 4 inches of water on several neighborhoods, with the heaviest happening around midday.
Hours after the heaviest rain had passed, the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board released a preliminary estimate on how the agency responded to the rain event. In the statement, the S&WB said an electrical feeder lost power around 1:30 p.m., temporarily knocking out four pumps at different stations.
The impacted pumps were at station 6 near the Jefferson Parish line, station 7 near City Park, station 3 near Florida Avenue and station 4 in Gentilly.
"The SWBNO team acted quickly, turning on enough additional pumps in about 35 minutes to fully respond to the continuing rainfall," a statement from the agency said. "By 3 p.m., water levels in the drainage canals were rapidly falling throughout New Orleans."
Earlier in the day, the S&WB said that 115 of the city's 120 drainage pumps were operational for the first major rain event of the season. Five pumps, including some smaller constant duty pumps, were out of service for maintenance.
The City of New Orleans set up barricades at 14 locations on the east and west banks due to high water for several hours in the afternoon. Several cars stalled out at underpasses and more than a dozen roads were impassable.