NEW ORLEANS — A video obtained by WWL Louisiana sparked a discussion at Monday's city council meeting. The video shows the moment a Krewe of Cleopatra float collides with an Oak tree.
It happened Friday as the float was turning onto Magazine Street from Jefferson Avenue.
Chuck Adams witnessed the situation while watching the parade from his friend's home on Magazine Street.
“Oh, it was chaotic," Adams said, “They had to dip down or get hit in the head with the tree, and then as it took the porta potty off, they were pretty much just freaking out up on top. I mean they were all ducking to try and get out of the way.”
In the video, you can hear krewe members yelling at the driver to stop as the bathroom tips over.
“I wouldn’t want to be up there at that time," Adams said, “I’d hate to cut down a big tree like that or anything like that and I’d hate to move it because these people appreciate the float coming.”
On Monday, at a city council committee meeting, Councilmember Lesli Harris asked the Director of Parks and Parkways, Michael Karam, about the tree.
“That was a big limb, and the fact that someone put a porta potty on top of a float just seems strange to me and I’ve ridden before, and I’ve never seen one on top of a float," Harris said.
“I can’t speak to the compliance of the float. I was under the impression that it was in compliance with the height restrictions. I spoke with our team of arborists and there’s no more trimming we can do on that tree. We will not remove the tree, and so the solution is addressing the size of the floats that are making that turn," Karam said.
Harris agreed they shouldn't remove the tree.
The float that collided with the tree was two tandem floats, totaling four floats altogether, Karam said.
Karam suggested that krewes should downsize floats or have longer floats start elsewhere and then merge with the parade in a safer location. However, Karam said that Parks and Parkways would not make that decision.
"Parks and Parkways will be adding caution tape to the tree, as well as communicating with NOPD and the organizers of the three remaining krewes of this season that have tandem or larger floats at this turn to ensure that staff and drivers are aware of the logistics," the Mayor's Office said.
The NOPD said it would have the final say on any solutions that are implemented after consulting with city agencies, the Mayor's Mardi Gras Advisory Committee and krewes.
As we look ahead to more parades on the Uptown route, NOPD says it doesn't have any changes planned.
WWL Louisiana reached out to the Krewe of Cleopatra via phone and email on Tuesday, but no one responded.
Last year, the Krewe of Pygmalion's jester lost part of its head after hitting the same tree.