NEW ORLEANS — In response to a WWL Louisiana question about worsening street flooding on Oak Street uptown, the Department of Public Works said the street’s drain lines are smaller than they need to be. The street is home to many longtime businesses and historic buildings, many of which took on water as recently as last Thursday during a burst of heavy rain.
“It started and it just stormed and it never stopped,” said Haase’s co-owner Judy Caliva. The century-old shoe and clothing shop was one of the few on the street that did not flood. It did, however, lose almost an entire day of business. “It affects everyone, you know, you can't do anything,” said Caliva.
WWL Louisiana polled about 20 businesses on Saturday (https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/local/new-orleans-flooding-oak-street-businesses-regular-problem-concern-worsening-historic-corridor-dozen/289-bc0b79b9-8b71-40b8-9597-391d99105a91). Nearly all said they got at least some water in their buildings during Thursday’s storm. At least one, More Fun Comics, lost thousands of dollars worth of merchandise.
Many shop owners said the street did not experience regular street flooding until about a decade ago, blaming several road work projects completed around that time. Then, in the past two years, it has become even more frequent.
The Leonidas neighborhood, where that stretch of Oak Street is located, is at a higher elevation than many in the city. Some of the street’s longest-running business owners say the street did not flood during Hurricane Katrina.
According to the Sewerage and Water Board, 12 of the 13 pumps at the nearest pumping station, DPS 6, were working during Thursday’s downpour.
WWL Louisiana reached out to the City multiple times in the week since the storm and received a response Friday via the Mayor’s Office from the Department of Public Works.
It said:
[The 8100-8800 blocks of Oak Street] currently have 10-inch drain lines, which need to be upsized to 15 inches or more to meet today’s standards. The lines will be addressed when funding and staffing is available.
It did not specify when those lines were installed or whether there was anything else contributing to the flooding.
For the time being, many shop owners were emphatic that drivers need to stop speeding down Oak Street when it is flooded. “The water comes in, I tried to push it off and get it out, but I wait five minutes later than there's another car coming through,” said Family Barber Shop owner Alan Seals.
His shop did take on some water Thursday. During the storm, he and others rushed into the street and barricaded it with benches, cars, and caution tape. “Every shop owner on the street will be standing outside during the storm just yelling at people, ‘slow down,’” Seals said.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.
