Heavy overnight rains and problems with a turbine losing power and another being offline have helped contribute to widespread street flooding in New Orleans Saturday morning.
The New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board said that Turbine 4 lost power and that they are working to turn it back on. Turbine 5 has been down since last month for a separate issue.
"We are experiencing power issues. Crews are working to bring Turbine 4 back online and utilizing frequency changers & 3 EMDs. Lakeview, Carrollton, Mid City & Central City are seeing street flooding. Drainage pumping stations 1, 2, 6, 7 & 12 are affected."
Viewers have sent in images showing street flooding in parts of New Orleans East, Mid-City, Lakeview, Central City and Uptown.
The Canal underpasses and the Carrollton underpass have been closed. Other underpasses throughout the city have remained passable.
Story continues under Katie Moore's explanation as to what happened with the pumps
Meteorologist Alexa Trischler said the heavy rains started late Friday night and did not stop until Saturday around 8 a.m.
"It basically rained nonstop over NOLA Metro from 3 AM to 6 AM Saturday," she said. "Many spots that saw flooding had already been saturated from rain early on Friday. That plus the onslaught of rain early Saturday morning created a flash flood in the metro. Some places picked up 2 to 4 inches with locally higher amounts around 5 to almost 7 inches in other areas. New Orleans International Airport has gotten almost 4.25 inches of rain since Friday.
A flood warning was issued around 5 a.m.
There has also been a question as to which pumps are off across the city. New Orleans Councilman Joe Giarrusso has warned residents in the Lakeview neighborhood that a turbine has been turned off as well as DPS 12 which serves West Lakeview.
Viewers like Thomas Krentel who lives uptown reported heavy flooding on his street, with cars parked in the water-filled street outside his house.