Hurricane Francine downpour ‘outpaced’ Jefferson Parish drainage capacity
16th September 2024 · 0 Comments
By Elise Plunk and Greg LaRose
Contributing Writers
(lailluminator.com) — Nearly 100 percent of drainage pumps in Jefferson Parish were available for Hurricane Francine, but officials say the storm’s heavy, prolonged rains Wednesday overwhelmed the infrastructure to clear floodwater.
Kenner was one of the hardest hit areas, specifically its University City neighborhood where an estimated 50 to 75 homes took in flood water. Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng said the count might go up as people return home from evacuation to check the status of their homes.
“We were just outpaced with the sheer amount of water that Francine dumped on us,” Sheng said at a Thursday afternoon news conference.
Out of 194 pumps across the parish, 192 were available and have the capacity as a system to clear 1 inch of water in the first hour and a half-inch every subsequent hour. Sheng said rainfall amounts of 7-9 inches fell Wednesday in East Jefferson, with one report of more than 12 inches. By comparison, 5 inches of rain fell over the same period in West Jefferson, where Sheng said flood damage was limited to just one house in Bridge City.
Jefferson Parish Councilwoman Arita Bohannon, who represents Kenner, claimed failed drainage pumps at Armstrong International Airport contributed to flooding in South Kenner, but Public Works Director Mark Drewes said high water would still have affected neighborhoods because of the intensity of rainfall.
“Even if they were running, we would still have had flooding,” Drewes said.
Cleanup was already underway by midday Thursday for many of the storm-hardened residents of Kenner. Soggy heaps of carpet piled up next to bagged trash and waterlogged floorboards in front of houses in University City. Neighbors checked on neighbors, sitting together on porches with cups of coffee to reflect on damage and commiserate over loss of power.
“We lost our electricity around 6 p.m. [Wednesday], and then we started getting the wind and the rain, and the water came up to my doorstep, inches away from coming in,” Audrey Mayronne said.
“It was scary because our house got totaled for two previous hurricanes, Katrina and Ida,” said Debra Hingle, whose garage took water during Hurricane Francine. She still considers herself lucky.
“At least it didn’t get in the house,” she said.
Joshua Mellinger sat outside with James and Minnie Schmidt, enjoying the still-stiff wind in lieu of air conditioning, and recounted the worst of the flooding at around 9 p.m. the night before.
“My truck gave out on Loyola,” Mellinger said. “There was another guy … he had a car, so he had pulled over, so he got out of his car and came and helped me.” A young woman also stopped to help, the three of them pushing Mellinger’s car out of the flooded street.
“It was unreal” how hard the rain came down, Minnie Schmidt said. “I didn’t think it was going to be that bad.”
Power outages remain a concern for residents, businesses and schools on both banks of Jefferson Parish. Officials have asked the public to limit their use of water while it uses mobile generators to power sewer lift stations, which carry effluent to sewage treatment systems.
Wet wells feed the lift stations, and Drewes said 28 percent of the parish’s wet wells and 514 lift stations had exceeded their capacity as of 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. As of Thursday morning, 55 percent of the stations were at capacity. That rate was down to 20 percent as of the afternoon once parish crews brought generators, vacuum trucks and tankers to the facilities without power.
As Entergy Louisiana restores power throughout the parish, Drewes said he expects the sewer system to normalize. As of 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Entergy reported more than 43,000 customers in Jefferson Parish, or 20 percent, are without electricity.
A decision on school closures and openings for Friday is expected this evening once system and campus leaders make a complete assessment of storm damage, Jefferson Parish Schools chief operations officer Patrick Jenkins told reporters. Roof damage and leaks have occurred at some schools, and the status of the parish sewage system will also affect whether classes resume, he said.
Sarah Babcock, parish chief administrative assistant, said there were just 12 people, most of them from Kenner, at a parish-run shelter in Terrytown as of Thursday afternoon. That site will close today, and anyone remaining will be moved to a shelter at Johnny Bright Playground in Metairie. Priority will be given to anyone whose homes aren’t livable and residents who need medical assistance, Babcock said.
This article originally published in the September 16, 2024 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
