Severe storms overtopped Jefferson Parish canals for the first time in 10 years
By Blake Paterson
Source: The Times-Picayune | Nola.com
April 17, 2024
Last Wednesday’s severe weather overwhelmed Jefferson Parish’s drainage infrastructure, causing widespread street flooding — and for the first time in at least a decade — the overtopping of canals.
But unlike New Orleans, where floodwaters swamped businesses and vehicles, Jefferson Parish residents escaped the deluge relatively unscathed.
“The drainage system did what it was designed to do,” said Ben Lepine, the parish’s drainage director.
The worst flooding took place on the parish’s east bank and in Bridge City, where rainfall totaled around 7 inches and quickly overloaded the parish’s drainage capacity.
Still, Jefferson Parish didn’t suffer from the same mechanical issues as New Orleans, where a series of power failures at the Sewerage & Water Board hampered drainage efforts.
Of Jefferson’s 194 pumps, two were offline for scheduled repairs. All other pumps operated without issues, allowing water levels to promptly recede once the storm let-up.
Jefferson Parish’s drainage system can handle 1 inch of rainfall in the first hour and half an inch every hour after that. From 10:15 a.m. to 11:15 a.m., much of the parish experienced 2-3.5 inches of rain, with some areas receiving upwards of 5 inches of rain, Lepine said.
That exceeded the capacity of the parish’s pump stations, causing water to back up in the parish’s canals.
The parish closed off streets along West Napoleon Avenue near Severn Avenue and West Metairie Avenue between Roosevelt Boulevard and David Drive after canals there overtopped.
“In the 10 years I’ve been working here, I’ve never seen the canals overtop,” Lepine said.
Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng spent much of the day monitoring water levels at the West Esplanade Avenue canal. The waterway never overtopped, though she worried that if it did, drivers wouldn’t be able to tell where the road ends and the canal begins.
Asked on Tuesday at an event hosted by the Bureau of Governmental Research for her takeaway from the deluge, Lee Sheng said, “The parish needs more high-water vehicles,” noting that one of her staffers had difficulty reaching the parish’s storm shelter at the Terrytown Playground because of street flooding.
Lee Sheng added that Jefferson Parish is in many ways the “poster child” for the impact that “more extreme weather” is having on local infrastructure — a problem researchers say will only worsen with climate change.
After any flooding event, the parish sorts through feedback from residents to assess whether anything can be improved, Lepine said.
The parish confirmed that at least one structure — a basement — flooded, according to Mark Drewes, the parish’s public works director.
The parish plans to inspect both the Bonnabel Pump Station as well as the drainage pipes along David Drive, which were recently upgraded, for potential blockages after reports of high water, Lepine said.
In preparation for storms, the parish each week tests its pumps, engines and generators. Workers also continuously clean 80,000 catch basins.
Lepine said residents can help the parish by keeping an eye on their catch basins and clearing them out when they see blockages or debris.
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