NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board confirms the only drainage pump at DPS-12 in the West End area, the pump that services parts of West Lakeview, tripped around 7:30 Wednesday morning.
That’s around the time water started backing up on some neighborhood streets.
According to an SWB spokeswoman, the pump was down for a time while workers restarted it and got the pump back online.
Meanwhile, there was bumper high water near 35th and Center Streets.
Neighbor Calli Terell said the street flooding started after the rain stopped.
“Probably the pumps were not draining just right here,” Terell said. “The street floods all the time.”
The floodwater pooled in front of Tim Zissis’ home in the 6500 block of Center Street.
“We need some accountability,” Zissis said. “It’s been going on too long here. You know, I have my pirogue for duck hunting, not to go bring my mail to the mailbox when it rains every time heavy.”
City Councilman Joe Giarrusso was not informed about the pump outage.
In a written statement, he told WWL-TV, "The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans needs to publicly report - no matter the length of time - if a pump or power goes offline. In 2017, the pump was allegedly on at DPS 12. Later, the public learned that wasn't the case. SWBNO must let everyone know if there are any problems so the public can prepare. Now the questions are how long the pump was offline; what caused the problem; and how can it be prevented in the future?"
The pump outage wasn’t the only drainage problem in Lakeview following heavy overnight rains.
Catch basins clogged by leaves, contributed to street flooding issues along Fleur De Lis Boulevard.
Live oaks are shedding leaves which covered storm drains, causing water to flood the roadway.
Nicholas Myers and his partners at Paleo Data down the street grabbed some brooms and cleared the drains.
“It’s definitely the catch basins,” Myers said. “We’ve been clearing these catch basins and it seems like it’s starting to flow pretty good.”
Myers added, “People need to make sure their catch basins are cleared. Especially with all the rain we’re going to get. We’re going to get a lot more, so we just want to be prepared.”
Another round of heavy rains is in the forecast for Thursday.