Ask anyone in Mid-City, when you say heavy rain is coming odds are their ears are going to perk up. Part of the reason for that has to with the August, 5th 2017 flood which turned roads into rivers and submerged dozens of cars in the neighborhood.
Kevin Adams calls Mid-City home and has for nearly two decades. Here is what he had to say when we asked him about the August 5th, 2017 flood.
“That was probably the worst. That was probably the deepest,” said Adams.
Though the current tropical wave brewing out in the Gulf of Mexico, now classified as Invest 91L, is a completely different setup than the summer squall that happened on August 5th, 2017, it’s still expected to bring between 3 and 5 inches of rain. Adams, though, says he is feeling alright about things.
“Not so much this one. I heard it moving fast so it shouldn’t have time to develop,” said Adams.
The system does look like it is traveling quickly. It’s expected move in Tuesday and be out by Thursday but WWL-TV meteorologist Chris Franklin says flooding could still be a concern.
“We’ve already had kind of a wet pattern for the better part of a week so the ground is basically saturated,” said Franklin. “In other words, any additional rainfall can’t be absorbed into the ground.”
According to the Sewerage and Water Board, 115 out of 120 pumps are available. That wasn’t the case on August 5th, 2017. Finn McCool’s owner, Sean Kennedy, also says he’s seen several improvements since the flood.
“About two, three weeks later the city did come out with a fairly sophisticated machine so any rains we have had since then have really dissipated pretty quickly,” said Kennedy.
Regardless, he is still planning on keeping a close on this tropical wave.
“You are always concerned by heavy rain,” said Kennedy. “I mean we are living in a bowl right?”
The tropical wave has been classified as Invest 91L. What this means is computer model resources are being dedicated to its forecast.
Paul Dudley can be reached at pdudley@wwltv.com.