NEW ORLEANS - Sisters Dianne Lemons and Veronica Sciortino own the Garden District Pub on Magazine street. For the first time in months, heavy rainfall no longer makes them, and their customers worry.
"Oh we feel wonderful," Dianne said. "We can rest assured that, you know, if it rains when customers are here, they don't have to flee."
But they were worried, and fed up when they called the Action Linefour months ago. It was just after a heavy rainfall, when sewage backed up into the bar. Customers had to evacuate. One tookpictures of the mess. It was the fourth back-up in eight months, and the sisters, tired of waiting for the Sewerage and Water Board, called the Action Line.
"It doesn't smell nice, and it doesn't look nice, I will just be very kind about that," Dianne said at the time. "We open the door, we air everything out. We get the bleach, we get the sanitizers, and we go to work, and it takes probably four to six hours."
That first Action Report was done in January, and at that time, I contacted the Sewerage and Water Board, and they responded right away. But this turned into a big project.
"They came out the next day," Veronica Sciortino said, "and things just moved forward form there. Thank you very much for all your help."
Once Sewerage and Water Board supervisors surveyed the problem, they knew what had to be done.
"They came out within a couple of days," Dianne said, "tore up the street, and found out that when there was work done at one of our neighbors buildings, they routed the pipes incorrectly, and routed the discharge water back towards our building, which caused erosion under our building."
When the Sewerage and Water Board finished, the sisters found they had to repair damage caused by that erosion, an expensive and time consuming job.
"We wereclosed during all of Mardi Gras," Dianne said, "so that was a major financial burden in itself, being closed all of those days. We were closed ten days."
But the work is complete now, and the sisters say the recent heavy rains left them smiling.
"We did not have any flooding problems, no backup problems.We were ecstatic," Veronica said with a laugh."
"The city has done their part in fixing the problem," Dianne said, "so we can't thank you enough because we would still be fighting this battle had it not been for you."
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