Two New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board electrical feeders tripped were tripped during Monday afternoon’s downpour, causing two pumping stations to go offline and resulting in flooding of several major roadways during rush hour.
According to SWB chief of communications Grace Birch, the electrical feeders to Pumping Stations 1 and 2 were tripped around 5:10 p.m. and remained offline for about five minutes. During that time, flooding along the Pontchartrain Expressway caused traffic to come to a crawl near the Superdome. Other parts of the city, including sections of the French Quarter, also saw flooding while the pumps were offline.
Birch says the break in the weather between 6 and 7 p.m. allowed the pumps to catch up and remove the flood water quickly.
SWB officials are investigating what caused those feeders to fail.
