NEW ORLEANS — Pouring rain outpaced drainage pumps Friday, putting the eastern neighborhoods of New Orleans under water.
Flooding was knee-deep along Allen Toussaint Boulevard. It slowed down traffic, left people stranded in their homes, and pushed water up in front yards.
CJ Charbonnet, Jr, a resident of Gentilly, said his wife woke him up Friday morning to look at their flooded street that left them stuck in their home.
“When I woke up this morning and saw my neighbor’s cars that were out, hey, terrible, terrible, terrible,” he said.
The Sewerage and Water Board said rain was falling more than five inches per hour in New Orleans East, and around four inches per hour in Gentilly.
A city bus had to be towed when it flooded out near the Seabrooke Bridge.
“I’ve never seen it this bad in 14 years. So thankful and grateful it stayed out the house, but it was pretty rough,” David Furr said.
Furr was working in Metairie when his wife called to tell him that floodwater was creeping closer to their home on Allen Toussaint Boulevard. He left Metairie, which was also flooding at the time, and had to park several blocks away to walk home.
Lots of drivers are now assessing the damage as well. Though parking restrictions were lifted, the storm caught many off guard.
Tasha Watson found her car stuck in rising water outside her home. She went to move it to higher ground, only to open the door and find inches of water inside.
“I was panicking, I didn’t know who to call, where to go, what to do. I didn’t know nothing. So, I just hopped in the car and drove through the water and parked it on the neutral ground,” Watson said.
It took hours for floodwaters to recede, and even longer for roads in Gentilly currently under construction.
District D Councilman Eugene Green is now asking for the Sewerage and Water Board and Department of Public Works to identify why these extreme flooding events are happening, and discuss what needs to happen to lessen the impact.
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