New Orleans braces for heavy weather

July 9, 2019

WNKY Staff,

(WDSU/NBC News) New Orleans is bracing for heavy rains and wind as forecasters warn a possible tropical depression could form in the Gulf of Mexico later this week.

City leaders are in constant communication with the National Weather Service and city workers were working Monday cleaning catch basins.

According to city leaders, from Jan. 1 through June 30, the city has cleaned 3,114 catch basins.

According to the city’s website, there are more than 70,000 catch basins across the city.

City leaders said 118 of 120 pumps are online. They are asking people to clean out debris in front of catch basins outside their homes.

They want the public to have a plan and stay weather aware.

“We have been through this before, much worse than this is potentially going to be. This is an opportunity to review your plans, make sure your family is on board, make sure you have the supplies you need, and make sure you have a plan in place to take care of each other,” said Collin Arnold, director of office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness. “The biggest potential will be heavy rain Thursday, Friday, Saturday time frame. There really is nothing there yet, so we don’t really know the impact if there is an impact. We could anticipate heavy rainfall from this.”