New Orleans S&WB catch basin investigation [Video]

When it rains in New Orleans, it sometimes doesn’t drain. This is a problem WDSU has covered extensively.While we sit in the middle of hurricane season, WDSU looks into what the city is doing to keep us above water, how a new agency is taking over plans to tackle the clog and asks our leaders if we will be ready if a storm hits.Right now, there are 72,000 catch basins across the city, and the agency tasked with cleaning them is the Department of Public Works.”The first concern is the number of catch basins,” said Rick Hathaway director of DPW.He said It’s a task that has been a challenge.”DPW in-house staffing has been an issue keeping enough crews available,” Hathaway said. “The associated equipment we have is nine trucks, four are not operatable. We only have three crews who can go out on the street.”WDSU Investigates was first to uncover …