JEFFERSON PARISH, La. — Residents who live not far from the 17th Street canal know what to, unfortunately, expect during a hard rain.
“I guess it was Tuesday about 2 weeks ago we had 3-4 inches of rain in about an hour 90 minutes, this entire block was about hub cap deep in water,” Jefferson Parish resident Michael Whelan said.
“If that canal overflows, then we all flood,” resident Kenny Landry said.
Jefferson Parish leadership is hoping to drain some of that nuisance with a new project they broke ground on Monday. They’re building two new pump stations. Veterans pump station north and Veterans pump station south will now take water straight to the canal, instead of the current system which first takes it to Bonnabel.
Councilmember Jennifer Van Vrancken says the roughly $17 million project, will have a domino effect.
“This is a major improvement for the east bank of Jefferson, the Metairie area because where you take water off the system and put it more efficiently on the canal, it means more water can be under the ground and all of those pipes that go elsewhere so it has an impact. It’s like a domino effect,” Van Vrancken said.
Nearby residents are excited and hopeful for what rainy days will be like after the project is complete in early 2025.
“Hopefully we’ll have less water on the street when it rains,” Whelan said.
“Everything in this neighborhood has to go to Bonnabel so if it could split it I think it would not flood as bad maybe never,” Landry said.
Work is also being done in New Orleans, at the London Avenue pump station. The Army Corps of Engineers are working to install temporary pumps at the London Avenue canal. This comes after they saw corrosion problems at Pump #1.
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