One month after Mardi Gras, and you can still see signs of it -- not just hanging in the trees on the parade route, but also in the gutters!
Along Tchoupitoulas Street, the neon-orange catch basin barriers called "gutter buddies," set out to keep beads and other throws from washing into the city's storm drains, remain in front of the drains for several blocks. It is rainsing concerns that the devices could contribute to street flooding.
"We went ahead and deployed some out there, some gutter buddies out there, and they just got missed," said New Orleans Public Works Director Keith LaGrange. LaGrange said they are in the process of removing them -- with one to three inches of rain in the forecast for today.
"Those are currently getting picked up," said LaGrange. "We were a little more comprehensive this year."
LaGrange said the devices worked well, keeping parade-related trash out of the city's storm drains.
"We spot checked a few, and there was little to no debris or beads inside the catch basins," he said.
LaGrange said the also used them in some areas where parades didn't pass -- either for some blocks adjacent to parade routes, or areas like Bourbon Street, where they noticed a lot of throws and parade-related trash was going into catch basins. He said they plan to use even more of them for Mardi Gras next year.