Heavy rains swamped New Orleans on Sunday, inundating streets, stranding cars and temporarily shutting down all public streetcar and bus service. Three to 4 inches of rain fell across the city, according to the National Weather Service, which had warned of "life-threatening" flash flooding Saturday night into Sunday. About 11,500 New Orleans residents were without power at the height of the storm, NOLA.com reported. By Sunday afternoon, the worst of the system was moving into the Florida Panhandle, the weather service said, and New Orleans shifted to recovery mode. Governors in Louisiana and Mississippi have declared states of emergency. Heather Wright, 48, a lifelong New Orleans resident, opened her door at 5 a.m. and couldn't believe what she saw. Though Wright lives in the middle of a street, which rises a bit and puts her home at higher elevation, water was gushing over the curb and gutter. A few hours later, the storm broke and the water receded. Still, Wright said, she can walk three or four doors down "and I'm up to my kneecaps in water, easily." It’s been wet all over the Gulf Coast the past few days because of a series of storm systems, and New Orleans was one of the areas hit hardest. That's becoming a regular occurrence, Wright said. “I’m a 6th-generational New Orleanean,” she said. “It used to be that every few years, we’d get these big floods in May. Now it’s constant. Any time there’s major rain, we stress. It’s becoming an issue where people are literally afraid when thunderstorms come – we don’t know if the streets are going to become impassable, if water is going to enter our homes or our businesses.” Wright hears more friends talking about moving farther outside the city or leaving New Orleans. Living here is like “being in a bad marriage,” she said. “You want to stay, because there are times it’s so good,” said Wright, an artist and jewelry maker. “Then there are other times where it’s so, so bad – but you don’t know how to leave. This city has just become so dysfunctional.” The city, which urged residents to park on high ground and not attempt to drive through submerged areas, encouraged residents to follow its emergency preparedness Twitter account. As floodwaters receded, officials warned of downed power lines and standing water. The Regional Transit Authority, which had shut down bus and streetcars earlier in the day, restored some services by Sunday afternoon. Mayor LaToya Cantrell said more than 5 inches of rain fell from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. with bouts of heavy rainfall of 2 inches an hour. The city was offering free vehicle towing after the storm, Cantrell said. Though dry weather is expected to return to the region in the coming days, flooding on the Mississippi River could worsen throughout the month. “River flooding may continue into June as floodwaters in rivers farther north travel southward and add onto the ongoing flooding along the lower Mississippi River,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Rathbun said. On Friday, the river rose so rapidly – 6 inches in 24 hours – that the Army Corps of Engineers had to open the Bonnet Carré spillway, about 12 miles west of New Orleans, four days earlier than planned as a precautionary measure to relieve stress on the city's levees. Chelsea Brasted, a city columnist for NOLA.com, woke up to ankle-deep water in her Algiers Point neighborhood directly across from the French Quarter, an area not known to flood. Brasted filmed a video that showed the water backup throughout her part of the city. Others on social media told the city it needed to raise its preparedness game. “This flooding is ridiculous,” said Ta'Shana Stanton, a lifelong New Orleans resident who posts on Twitter under the handle @beau_tee_fulbws. “New Orleans, you have to do better with your drainage pipes … this is absolutely horrible. People’s cars are going underwater … this is ridiculous. Come on now, people.” Wright believes in climate change but says the flooding problems in her city go beyond science. “I think what has happened is that the sewage and water board has been mishandled for so long, and by so many majors, that it is a a broken system – literally,” Wright said. “I don’t know at this point what can be done, other than the city hitting the lottery. … How do you pay for a rotting infrastructure?” At least half of New Orleans is at or below sea level and suffered catastrophic flooding in Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The Mississippi Highway Patrol also closed part of Highway 49 in Stone County on Sunday morning because of flooding, and many residents in the area were forced out of their homes because of high water. The flooding might have contributed to the derailment of a freight train near Lumberton, about 90 miles northeast of New Orleans, local media reported. The train derailed a little after 7 a.m. Saturday. Contributing: The Associated Press<doc-sep>The city is offering free vehicle towing in the wake of Sunday’s (May 12) widespread street flooding, Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced. As the water recedes, stranded vehicles and debris are making some intersections impassable, so the city will provide “courtesy tows” for free, the city said. If the vehicle owner is present, the car or truck will be towed to the nearest area of safety, according to Cantrell. If the owner is not present, the vehicle will be towed to the city’s auto pound lot at 400 N. Claiborne Ave. Rainfall exceeded drainage system capability: New Orleans S&WB<doc-sep>NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - More than five inches of rain fell in New Orleans during a seven-hour period overnight Saturday and early Sunday (May 12), according to the Sewerage and Water Board. Many residents woke up on Mother’s Day to flooded streets and sidewalks, with water damaging some cars, homes and businesses. RTA suspended public transportation services and several roads were blocked off due to high water and dangerous diving conditions. In a statement released Sunday afternoon, the Sewerage and Water Board said there were heavy bouts of rain throughout the night, at some points falling at rates of two inches an hour or higher. Widespread street flooding was seen across the city, most of which receded within two hours, according to city officials. Autoplay Caption S&WB officials said the drainage system showed “some improvements," compared to the length of time it has taken in the past to clear flooded streets. However, officials noted certain areas of the city where streets took longer to drain, which are listed below: Area bounded by Canal Boulevard, West End Boulevard, City Park Avenue, and Filmore Avenue Broad Street and Orleans Avenue corridors Banks Street corridor Franklin Avenue at I-610/I-10 overpass Napoleon Avenue from Claiborne Avenue to Broad Street St. Bernard Avenue corridor St. Claude Avenue from Elysian Fields Avenue to the Lower 9th Ward General De Gaulle and Wall Boulevards corridor S&WB spokesman Richard Rainey said the highest rate of rainfall was recorded at 3.1 inches in the hour between 5:15 a.m. and 6:15 a.m. in the Lower 9th Ward. During the storms, 115 of the city’s 120 pumps were available for use, according to Rainey, who said the pumps cannot all be used at once because, “such an effort would overflow downstream canals.” Rainey said one pump near City Park lost power temporarily while it was raining hard around 5 a.m. after Entergy lost power in that area. An on-site generator was used to restore power to the pump by 6 a.m., according to Rainey, who said the pump in question would not have been in use at that time anyway because “the water in the canal wasn’t high enough.” In a statement Sunday, Mayor Latoya Cantrell said improving the city’s infrastructure and drainage system remains one of her top priorities. “My administration has been laser-focused on infrastructure as a whole and stormwater management in particular,“ Cantrell said. "As we face our issues head on, we are using data and experience to better live with water.” The mayor later posted on Twitter asking residents to report clogged catch basins and areas of poor drainage to 311 and said the city will use Sunday’s flooding to learn how to better solve these issues in the future. Using pump station and rain gauge data, drainage surveys, and video analysis, we will work to determine rainwater volume versus drainage capacity and to identify potential opportunities for drainage improvements. — Mayor LaToya Cantrell (@mayorcantrell) May 12, 2019 Copyright 2019 WVUE. All rights reserved.<doc-sep>As the flood-swollen Mississippi River rises across the South into Louisiana, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has opened the Bonnet Carré spillway north of New Orleans in a precautionary move to relieve potential stress on the city's levees, which protect from catastrophic flooding. The spillway is 28 miles north of New Orleans. Most of the city is at or below sea level, so it is protected by levee systems. New Orleans suffered deadly flooding in Hurricane Katrina when levees were breached. The Bonnet Carré spillway was recently closed on April 11 after it was opened to protect New Orleans was flooding and this is the first time in history the spillway has been opened two times in a year. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a statewide emergency on Friday due to flooding and heavy rains flooding that is continuing for some areas on Saturday. The Mississippi River, due to heavy regional rainfall, has risen 6 inches in the past 24 hours, according to the U.S. Corps of Engineers, and with more rain expected through the weekend, the river is nearing dangers levels – exceeding April flooding levels which were the worst since 1973. "These rains could elevate the Mississippi River above 17 feet with a peak as high as 17.5 feet at the Carrollton Gage," the Corps said in a release on Frida. "In an abundance of caution the operation date is being moved forward to ensure the safe passage of this high water by limiting the elevations downriver of the spillway. Operation of the structure will relieve pressure on main levees, maintain river stages, and regulate the flow downriver from the spillway. "This will be the 14 operation of the structure since 1937 and the first time it has been opened twice during the same high water event." Air boat out at Bonnet Carre during the second opening this year. pic.twitter.com/kkeQvcdESU — Corps of Engineers (@TeamNewOrleans) May 10, 2019 Already, flooding inside the south end of Mississippi's Delta region that is walled off by levees is experiencing record flooding that will prevent farmers from planting crops on hundreds of thousands of acres, according to the Associated Press. And it's still raining across the Deep South, bringing more rain to rain-soaked states including Mississippi and Louisiana. Meanwhile, in Texas, more than 42,000 homes and businesses remain without power due to flooding and the city of Houston is still grappling with heavy rain and flooding. Houston and parts of Harris County and nearby counties along the Gulf Coast under a flash flood watch through 7 p.m. Saturday. Parts of the Houston area received 5 inches of rain on Thursday within 90 minutes. Some schools were canceled in the Houston area on Friday. On Saturday, the heaviest rain in Texas is south of Houston, in coastal areas including Galveston and Freeport.<doc-sep>
Heavy rains Saturday night and into Sunday (May 12, 2019) have slammed the New Orleans area, causing multiple city streets to flood throughout the city and leading to a messy Mother's Day that shut down all public streetcar and bus service. Images emerged Sunday morning of stranded and flooded cars and water pouring into streets while inching toward homes and businesses with heavy rain still falling, with more problems developing. Flooded streets were all over the metro area, including Mid-City and downtown. Flooding was so widespread and significant that New Orleans' Regional Transit Authority suspended all bus and streetcar service Sunday morning. "The Regional Transit Authority's number one priority is the safety of our passengers and operators," the agency said in a statement. "Due to safety concerns and upon recommendations from the New Orleans Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, the RTA is temporarily suspending all services. Service will resume as soon as city emergency officials announce it is safe to do so." "My neighbor's poor car didn't make it," tweeted one New Orleans resident Sunday morning, showing photos of a car half-submerged in water. Tulane near S. Lopez pic.twitter.com/VhAwemBDIw — Jacqueline Quynh (@jquynhreports) May 12, 2019 The National Weather Service said Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. that New Orleans and the surrounding metro area was under a flash flood warning as "one more round of storms" was moving into the area producing up to an inch more of rain, likely exacerbating significant flood problems that city residents woke up to. Areas expected to experience flooding included New Orleans, Avondale, Metairie, Harvey and many more towns in the metro area. See more photos of the New Orleans flooding (May 12, 2019) below in the story. Orleans and Broad is under. Looks like a busted pipe at Orleans and Dorgenois too. pic.twitter.com/I5kPF8dix3 — Julee LaPorte (@mmejlaporte) May 12, 2019 Meanwhile, in a precautionary measure late this week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened the Bonnet Carré spillway north of New Orleans in a precautionary move to relieve potential stress on the city's levees, which protect from catastrophic flooding. The spillway is 28 miles north of New Orleans. Most of the city is at or below sea level, so it is protected by levee systems. New Orleans suffered deadly flooding in Hurricane Katrina when levees were breached. The Mississippi River, due to heavy regional rainfall, has risen 6 inches in the past 24 hours, according to the U.S. Corps of Engineers, and with more rain expected through the weekend, the river is nearing dangers levels – exceeding April flooding levels which were the worst since 1973. "These rains could elevate the Mississippi River above 17 feet with a peak as high as 17.5 feet at the Carrollton Gage," the Corps said in a release on Friday. "In an abundance of caution the operation date is being moved forward to ensure the safe passage of this high water by limiting the elevations downriver of the spillway. Operation of the structure will relieve pressure on main levees, maintain river stages, and regulate the flow downriver from the spillway." South Jeff Davis at Palmyra. Water bubbling up from manhole cover. In the distance, trash receptacles floating along the other side of the parkway. #NOLAReady pic.twitter.com/kE6iWrEIyi — LouisianaMattBailey™ (@mattbailey) May 12, 2019