The New Orleans metro area is drying out after Francine dumped several inches of rain in a short amount of time. Jefferson Parish president Cynthia Lee Sheng says the east bank took on seven to nine inches of rain, some areas got 11 inches which led to flooding.
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(Photos courtesy of Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng)
“That’s the situation. We just had pumps that could not keep up with the amount of rainfall that Francine put down on us,” Sheng said.
Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley says the flooding from Francine is as bad as it was for Hurricane Katrina.
“This storm, from my calculation, stayed over us for about an hour and a half to two hours and dumped anywhere from nine to eleven inches of rain on us in a short period of time,” Conley said.
Numerous homes have been flooded.
Flash flooding was also an issue in Thibodaux. Lafourche Parish President Archie Chaisson says emergency responders had to rescue several people trapped due to rising water.
“We did have to rescue, the Sheriff’s office last night, about 26 people from our Lafourche Parish Housing Authority complex that began to take on water, so they’re now safe at our shelter,” Chaisson said.
Most of Lafourche is without power. But Chaisson is optimistic power will be restored sooner than later.
“The resiliency work that Entergy of Louisiana did after Hurricane Ida is really paying dividends for us. There’s not a whole lot of poles down on the road. There are a few broken wires here and there. I’m pretty optimistic, as they begin their assessment, that we see power restoration a little bit quicker than what we thought,” Chaisson said.
