The Sewerage and Water Board went before the New Orleans City Council today, a day after the main turbine to power drainage pumps failed and led to worse flooding across the city.
Councilman Jay Banks lashed out at Executive Director Ghassan Korban.
"This is going to continue to happen. We keep acting like, 'Oh we are surprised when it breaks.' Well guess what? It's a hundred years old. It's gonna break again," Banks insisted.
He added that after action reports on what happened won't solve the biggest problem.
"So whether of not it was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Squirrels that tripped it off, or whether or not the turbine broke because it's a hundred years old, or whatever caused it to break... we have an old, antiquated, broken system."
He implored Korban, "The reality of it is that it is old and broke down. Now am I right or wrong?"
"Why not let the public know immediately and warn what's going on so they can make their own decisions?" Committee Chairman Joe Giarrusso asked.
He said with that information, people could have known to take action to protect their property.
Korban initially said fixing the problem was more important than telling people.
"That was primarily the focus for the next hour or so or less," he explained. "So that was our focus, 'Let's just find power, let's just keep those pumps pumping, and then we find out exactly what happened and can notify everyone."
