New Orleans S&WB forced to ration power to pump stations during deluge, officials say (2024)

The Sewerage and Water Board was forced to ration power to its pumping stations Wednesday during the series of thunderstormsthat dropped several inches of rain in New Orleans and led to widespread street flooding.

In a statement issued Wednesday afternoon, the S&WB said it “had some issues with power,” especially backup generators, which required operators to shift the available power between its pumps.

The S&WB did not provide any additional details about what pumping stations were affected by the power rationing, how dire the power situation was or specifics on the issues with its power sources.Utility officials said canals were at high levels around pumping stations in Broadmoor, Lakeview and the 7th Ward.

The S&WB has faced issues with its power supply for months, ever since one of its key turbines, known as T-4, sputtered during a storm on Feb. 3 that caused severe street flooding. The storm on Wednesday was the third that has caused flooding issues in the last four months.

The extent of the flooding Wednesday isn't clear. Though the city has issued emergency alerts, Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration had not held any news conferences about the weather event or issued any detailed statements.

In an interview with WWL-TV, Collin Arnold, the city's homeland security director, said that rainfall totals of as much as eight inches left “no area immune," and said that Gentilly and Mid-City suffered some of the worst street flooding.

“No flooded structures at this point,” Arnold told WWL-TV. “There are some vehicle issues at underpasses.”

In a prepared statement issued Wednesday afternoon, Cantrell spokesperson Andrew Logan said: "The Department of Public Works at this time can report, no known damage at this time. DPW has been and will continue to communicate with with our partners at Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans, and will continue to update the public as needed."

The S&WB said it would provide more information about its equipment in an upcoming after-action report. Spokesperson Grace Birch said one of two primary turbines, known as T-5, remained online and running at full capacity.

"During intense rain, the mission sometimes shifts from keeping the streets dry to draining them as quickly as possible," Birch said in a news release.

The S&WB says its system can handle one inch of rain for the first hour of a storm, and half an inch every hour thereafter. Most of the city saw five to seven inches in a seven-hour period, according to S&WB rain gauge data.

In addition to the two turbines, the S&WB relies on backup generators and other error-prone equipment to supply 25-hz power, the outdated type of electricity that many of the city’s drainage pumps require.

The S&WB says it needs 44 megawatts of 25-hz power to run the pumps during the heaviest storms, but has been forced to operate with a little more than 40 megawatts since T-4 went down.

That turbine is not expected to return until next month.