Leaking fire hydrant causes pooling water in New Orleans East
"It's not safe, it's not healthy, even dealing with your mental health as a mental health specialist, it's depressing. Nobody wants to have to deal with this every single day. Your house falling apart, the fence is rotting — all from water damage."
Tokie Miller says a fire hydrant constantly spewing near her mother's home on Lamb and Morrison Road in New Orleans East is causing headaches, property damage, and a large pool of putrid water.
"Honestly, it's been about three years, to be honest with you. We have called [the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans]; I know I've called over 100 times. I keep being told well, my mom is on the list for them to come out," says Miller.
Her neighbor, Kimberly Journee, reached out to the road patrol because the issue had gotten so bad that the water had reached her home on Hermes Street.
"It's completely flooded my backyard, passed my ankles and half of my front yard at this point," says Journee.
Both women say they've done their best to get the situation fixed, or at least get the hydrant turned off, but to no avail.
"Initially, I called the SWBNO. I called them multiple times. That didn't work. So, then I emailed them. That didn't work, so then my next step was to reach out to my councilman; I reached out to his office, twice. He's emailed them and CC'd me in the emails to their chief engineers over the department, that handles the fire hydrants — we haven't gotten any response from them," says Journee.
And while they wait for action to be taken the hydrant continues to flow. And now, there's another issue. Neighbors say they want a stop sign or a guardrail to deter drivers from speeding in the area, after multiple car crashes occurred.
"We can't get guardrails, we can't get anyone to come out and fix the fire hydrant, my mom is on a fixed income — who about to pay for an $1,000 water bill?" said Miller.
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The Road Patrol reached out to the Sewerage & Water Board, and they sent us this statement:
“We do have a work order at this location (dated 5/21/2024). Our average for hydrants is around 60 days so we are about halfway to that average. However, given the impact to private property, we will elevate and track this location for an expedited completion. Crews should be on site today.
"We appreciate that the resident called their council person, but it’s important to note that the quickest way to address a problem is for residents to call 504-52-WATER. If conditions change or worsen after an initial inspection and work order is issued, customers should be clear with the call center that the situation is escalating and impacts to personal property are happening.
"We will work to improve our processes to make sure inspectors have this new information to adjust priority of existing work orders if needed.
"SWBNO is also working on a public work order dashboard where residents can see the status of work orders and work order notes to make sure that the information we have accurately address the situation.
"We will keep you posted on that progress and we appreciate the public’s patience as we work toward a better utility."