A 14-inch pump at Pumping Station No. 6 was returned to service Friday (Aug. 25) as Hurricane Harvey closed in on the Texas coast and posed a threat to Louisiana.
The Sewerage & Water Board reports it has repaired another major drainage pump at its station on the 17th Street Canal, but 14 pumps remain down across the city as Hurricane Harvey approaches the Texas coast and poses a threat to southeast Louisiana.
The pump was returned to service at Pumping Station No. 6 Friday (Aug. 25) , according to status charts from the Sewerage & Water Board. Its 14-inch diameter pipe can handle 1,000 cubic feet of water per second. The repair is the fourth finished since Mayor Mitch Landrieu declared a state of emergency for the city’s drainage system Aug. 10.
Crews had previously fixed a similar 14-inch pump at Station No. 6 and another at Station No. 7. A 12-inch pump was also repaired at Station No. 11 in Lower Coast Algiers, where a similar pump is down for routine repairs.
In all, the system is now operating at 92 percent capacity with 106 of the system’s 120 pumps working, according to the S&WB chart.
Additionally, 23 of the city’s 29 automatic pumps at critical underpasses are working.
The crippled condition of New Orleans’ drainage system came into stark relief after water failed to drain quickly from several neighborhoods after a freak downpour on Aug. 5. It was later revealed that 17 pumps weren’t working that day. The response to that flood and the breakdowns in communications among officials led to a raft of firings.
A spokesman for Mayor Mitch Landrieu couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. Landrieu and a representative from the National Weather Service are expected to provide an update to New Orleans’ preparations for Harvey at 3 p.m. Friday.
