Human error: that’s what the head of the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board says was a “contributing factor” in parts of the city flooding during Saturday afternoon’s rainstorm.
According to SWB executive director Randy Hayman, Carrollton, Uptown, and Hollygrove received 3.5 inches of rain in the span of an hour, while Mid-City received up to three inches in an hour. In addition, Hayman noted that “instantaneous rainfall totals measured between 6.5 and 7.5 inches per hour. Those rainfall totals, Hayman said, overwhelmed surface drainage in much of the city, causing flooding along Claiborne Avenue and at several of the city’s underpasses.
However, Hayman says flooding in other areas was preventable.
“The majority of the impacts were in District A, which were a combination of heavy rain in a short period of time (and) a pump issue at two stations, DPS 7 and DPS Prichard, but it’s important to note that there were power issues for the static frequency changers at the power complex,” Hayman said in a video statement posted on social media. “We had delays bringing pumps online at DPS 7. There was nothing wrong with the pumps at this station. That’s an important part.”
According to Hayman, the water levels at DPS 7 rose six feet in 20 minutes because of the human error.
“We have three pumps at this location,” Hayman said. “After one was pumping (and) when we tried to bring the other two online, an error was made with a vacuum system, which meant that we did not have any pumps at this station online for around 45 minutes. This resulted in high water levels that impacted the lower Lakeview area and Mid-City (and) City Park for about an hour-and-a-half.”
Hayman says the SWB will place additional staff at DPS 7 to “ensure the pumps are operated correctly.”
“We are conducting an internal investigation, and we are reviewing and will enhance any training protocols accordingly.”
Update from SWBNO Executive Director, Randy Hayman, about the rainfall event on Saturday, July 11th. pic.twitter.com/JfUzbKh1Rg
— SWB New Orleans (@SWBNewOrleans) July 12, 2026
Hayman noted that DPS Prichard is an automated, unmanned station. That station’s two pumps, he said, clicked online around 1:15 p.m. Saturday, but one of those pumps clicked off during the height of the storm.
“The pumps at this location are designed to come on automatically, and we check the automatic pump three times a week regularly and when it is expected to rain,” Hayman said. “After further investigation, we identified that one pump went offline at 1:30 p.m. and had to be restarted by hand. This resulted in high water levels that impacted the Hollygrove neighborhood for about two hours.”
Hayman said the SWB will increase monitoring of that station to make sure the pumps are functioning properly during storms. In addition, Hayman says the SWB is looking into “notifications for automatic pumps.”
Hayman says the SWB is taking other actions to prevent flooding during rain events such as Saturday’s and to keep rainwater draining properly.
“We cleaned debris around the underpass stations to ensure that our equipment is able to pump as they are designed,” Hayman said. “These low-lying areas accumulate debris easily. Crews cleaned catch basins today on South Claiborne Avenue. Yesterday, crews helped clean (debris) in certain areas of Lakeview. Crews removed debris from flooding, flushed the connections to the box canals (and) underground drainage canals to ensure everything can function as expected.”
