Jackson Jambalaya

The leadership of the city of New Orleans provided a great lesson over the last week in how not to handle a crisis.  9 inches of rain fell on New Orleans last weekend.  Unfortunately for the Crescent City, 16 pumps didn't work (We will get around to the turbines that failed today in a separate post.) and flooding commenced. The city lied and said they were working at full capacity but the city used a different definition for "full capacity."  The Times-Picayune reported:

Eight major pumps were broken as the city's drainage system struggled to handle torrential rainfall Saturday afternoon, Sewerage and Water Board officials said Tuesday (Aug. 8), which left floodwaters standing in parts of Mid-City and Lakeview for up to 12 hours.

The revelations about problems in the system proved what many locals had suspected -- that initial statements from the Sewerage and Water Board claiming the system was operating at full capacity were false. The clearer picture of what contributed to the severe flooding emerged during a City Council special meeting called to investigate what happened.

In response, Mayor Mitch Landrieu announced a dramatic shakeup in leadership over drainage infrastructure. Sewerage and Water Board executive director of Cedric Grant had announced before the council hearing that he plans to retire at the end of hurricane season. (KF note: His pension will be $175,000 per year. You read that correctly)

Landrieu said he is also calling for the resignations of SW&B general superintendent Joseph Becker and communications director Lisa Martin. The city's Public Works Director Mark Jernigan will leave his post later this month, the mayor said.

The city is unable to make decisions that impact public safety "if we don't have credibility, and we don't have the real facts," Landrieu said.

More than 9 inches of rain fell in Mid-City and up to 5 inches came down in other neighborhoods, including Treme and Lakeview, pushing floodwaters into homes, businesses and vehicles starting around 3 p.m. Many locals questioned how storm water sat stagnant for hours, into the night and early Sunday morning, if all pumps were working.

Grant and Becker insisted over the weekend that the drainage system was fully operational, and the floods could be blamed on a rare, intense deluge of water and even on the impact of climate change.

Becker, when asked by council members about the discrepancy in the picture painted over the weekend and the reality revealed Tuesday, said the initial statements were meant to convey that "all the pump stations were working at the capacity they had available to them." Those words drew jeers from the crowd that packed City Hall for the council's special meeting. (KF: That means if only 60% capacity was available but the pumps were operating at 100% of the 60%, then the pumps were at full capacity.  You can't make this up.)

Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell said the Sewerage and Water Board repeatedly told council members that the system was operating at capacity. "We knew when this was happening over the weekend, something was not right," Cantrell said. "We have been told lies and that is the truth."

Frustrated residents listened for hours as council members questioned the Sewerage and Water Board leaders, Jernigan from Public Works, Landrieu's emergency response team and the Army Corps of Engineers. One person shouted "tell the truth Mr. Grant." Another woman held up a yellow notepad with the word "lies" in black marker.

During the hearing, Council President Jason Williams told Becker that he owes an apology to the city. In response, Becker said on behalf of the Sewerage and Water Board, he apologizes "for the confusion with the message we delivered."

Pump outages and power problems at stations reduced the overall capacity of the system. At pumping station No. 6 in Lakeview, for example, four pumps weren't working, leading to the station operating at only 57 percent capacity, Becker said. He later added that for about an hour, power problems at the station further reduced capacity to 52 percent. Other outages and power problems reduced capacity at other stations.

"I almost feel -- I thought we were on a witch hunt, and we found witches," Councilman James Gray said. "A few minutes ago you told me you were at 57 percent and now you told me you were down to 52 percent."

Landrieu did not appear during the 5 1/2-hour meeting. He instead called a news conference on the second floor of City Hall, even as impassioned members of the public were speaking in front of the council about the impact of the floods.  (KF: LEADERSHIP!!!!)

Landrieu said responses from S&WB officials during the council meeting were "an insult to the public."

"I am not happy with what I have learned," Landrieu said, adding that he has "ordered an independent third-party analysis" to discover the problems behind what occurred over the weekend. "I completely and totally understand the people's frustration after the flood, and more importantly with some of the misinformation they have been given," he said.

In addition to the eight major drainage pumps that were out of service, an additional six "constant duty" smaller capacity pumps that stay on to deal with groundwater were also not working. Becker said pumps were operating, but it was "simply too much rain" for the system. At one point over the weekend, Grant had suggested the floods could be blamed on climate change.....

Aaron Miller, head of the city's Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Response, told the council that the Sewerage and Water Board did not alert his office to the fact that some of the city's pumps weren't working. Miller also provided a timeline of Saturday's events.

The first 911 calls from people trapped in flooded cars came in at 3:17 p.m.; the first 911 calls from people reporting water entering buildings or approaching doorsteps came in 3:30 p.m. Miller said the city issued its text message emergency alert to citizens of flooding at 4:03 p.m. Miller said the department looks for other sources to verify information from 911 calls, which caused the time gap.....

Cantrell said it's unacceptable the city didn't alert citizens about what roads to avoid or even use barricades to block off certain areas. "You're the connector and convener, in terms of coordinating services and response," she told Miller. "I just feel this is your sole responsibility, and you dropped the ball on this one."

The hearing also sought answers from the city's Department of Public Works, which is responsible for clearing catch basins and the smaller drainage pipes that connect to the Sewerage and Water Board system. ...

Cantrell pointed out during the meeting that the council allocated $3 million last year just for catch basin and drainage work. Jernigan said the department had not yet completed an environmental review that would allow the drainage work to begin.

Williams continued to question why the work hadn't been done.

"Is there a supervisor? Is there someone who is telling you that you can't move forward with more catch basin work?" Williams said.

Jernigan said he did not have enough resources for the work. Someone in the audience shouted: "Y'all are killing our city from the inside out."...

As Tuesday's hearing spanned into the evening, residents from across the city condemned the apparent falsehoods put forth over the weekend and vented frustrations over why the city's spending isn't returning results in better drainage.

Darrell Hayward, a Sewerage and Water Board employee who said he worked at a pumping station, shared problems he has experienced on the job. It's difficult to address problems like those that exacerbated Saturday's flooding because decisions have to be made at the department head level, leaving supervisors and employees such as himself powerless, he said.

Power supply issues at the pumping stations have existed since July 22, when Mid-City and other areas flooded after more than 4 inches of rain fell, Hayward said..... Rest of article