NEW ORLEANS — As we prepare for the freezing temperatures later this week, plumbers are warning residents to protect their pipes to prevent them from bursting.
New Orleans doesn’t get frosts all too often, and our houses aren’t built to withstand freezing temperatures like up north.
“The first step would be insulating the pipes if you can find insulation at this point in time…the second most important thing to do would be running water from the furthest fixture at your house," Plumber Chris Lopinto from Pipes R Us said. “Those pipes might be in a rough condition already you might not know it, you may never have had a problem before.”
To keep your pipes from bursting to determine which tap is the furthest away from the main water switch, the night before, let it trickle, but not so it's gushing.
Lopinto says those with raised houses are at greater risk of bursting pipes, “If you are leaving out of town, I would run the water now. The freeze is going to happen," he said.
During the tornado, a tree fell on Deborah Boulas' family home in Marrero.
They’re still staying there, but one side of the house isn’t being used.
“A lot of damage to the laundry room, and her room and the roof,” she said.
She remembers the great Christmas freeze of 83' when the temperature hit record lows.
“Everything froze that night and that was in the early 80s, that’s the only time I remember having a hard freeze like this,” she said.
“It's recommended that they turn their shut off valve at the front of the house, then they would turn their gas off to their water heater and drain the pipes in the house… so just open up the fixtures to drain the pipes,” Lopinto said.
Pipes R Us will be open the holiday weekend and will have staff on call in cases of emergency.