14 pumps down during New Orleans floods, according to Sewerage & Water Board officials; Landrieu calls for resignations

[admin]

As streets across New Orleans began to flood after an afternoon deluge Aug. 5, the Sewerage & Water Board (S&WB) assured residents that "all pumps were operational."

But at a meeting called by the New Orleans City Council Aug. 8, the S&WB clarified "pump stations were working at the capacity available to them," making the distinction between a drainage system that's working completely and one that is working with what it has, with several pumps offline and waiting for maintenance.

Moments before the meeting began, S&WB director Cedric Grant sent a press release announcing his retirement from the agency and apologizing for the disinformation. "The information I have learned over the last 24 hours indicate that some parts of our system did not operate as they should have, which is disappointing because it contradicts information that I was given to provide to the public," he said.?

[Utah_Saint]

I worked on some of the city pumps after Katrina. They are cheapest, low quality pumps money can buy. Off and on service is really tough on those types of pumps already. Combine that with the engineering or lack thereof on these particular ones, and city maintenance has an uphill battle in the best of times.