NEW ORLEANS — Signs on St. Mary Street warn drivers, “flood zone, park at their own risk.” People who work in the area say the two-block stretch and the adjacent block on Magazine Street regularly get knee-high water. It floods buildings and cars on the busy corridor and causes regular parking headaches.
“It’s becoming a real issue with getting employees to work, getting guests to the restaurant,” said Liz Schmidt, Director of Events at Gris-Gris on Magazine Street.
The block is packed with businesses. Schmidt said when cars drive by during a day of heavy rain, they sometimes push water into the shops and restaurants. “There have been times when we have our chefs go outside, roll up their shorts, and start policing and telling everybody ‘slow down,’” she said.
She and other people working in the area Thursday said the flooding has always been a problem, though it seems to have gotten worse over the past few years.
The deepest is on St. Mary Street itself.
“It can happen very quickly and it can be 8 inches, 10 inches deep sometimes,” said Elie Hoffman, Sous Chef at Union Ramen on the corner of Magazine and St. Mary Streets.
He said the restaurant warns new hires not to park on St. Mary, and that both workers and guests have had their cars flood before. “One of our employees got 4 inches in their car, and because of the age of the car it was just written off by the insurance company,” said Hoffman.
He parked his own car 5 blocks away Thursday when he saw heavy rain was in the forecast. Besides the nuisance, the lack of access to the block during heavy rain can have a real impact on business.
When there are storms in the forecast, “we call our reservations and let them know what’s going on, which sucks because most of the time when we have to do that they just say ‘oh we’ll cancel,’’” said Schmidt. With less foot traffic, there are also fewer walk-ins.
The empty chairs sometimes mean some employees are cut at the beginning of the day. “It’s nobody’s choice,” said Schmidt, “it’s just how it is.”
WWL Louisiana contacted a representative from the Sewerage and Water Board Thursday to see if they had insight into what caused the flooding.
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