Does downtown NOLA have better drainage than the rest of the city ?

[steve2470]

Or did it just get lucky ? The photos I'm seeing show much less flooding in downtown than the rest of the city.

[BayouBengal07]

1. Where

Where are you looking at photos?

Edit: I found some on Yahoo news

[steve2470]

3. here

http://www.repubblica.it/2003/e/gallerie/esteri/dannikatr/12.html

[BlueEyedSon]

2. I dont think any of NOLA has "drainage", it has "pumpage"

the whole city is below sea level

[steve2470]

4. Yes I know, force of habit :-) nt

[garthranzz]

5. Than parts, yes

Although N.O. is a fishbowl, those parts inside the levee system and furthest from Lake Pontchartrain do better. Tulane Univeristy area has street flooding, but not as bad as areas close to the lake, the suburbs and the eastern part of the city.

[garthranzz]

6. than parts, yes

Although N.O. is a fishbowl, those parts inside the levee system and furthest from Lake Pontchartrain do better. Tulane Univeristy area has street flooding, but not as bad as areas close to the lake, the suburbs and the eastern part of the city.

[GumboYaYa]

7. The French Quarter leading up to the Central Business District

is one of the highest parts of town. If you go to the back/top of the quarters down into the ninth ward on the East bank of the river, the flooding will be much worse. That area is like a bowl and is probably catching a lot of the water from the CBD, not to mention any breaches of the Miss. river levee.

[Richardo]

8. The French Quarter is on the high end of the bowl: cross section here

[CottonBear]

9. Link to live TV coverage of downtown NOLA:

http://www.wdsu.com/video/4909353/detail.html

edit: Reporter says DO NOT drink the water in Jefferson Parrish. Also, please conserve water. 3 deaths reported so far (nursing home evacuees)

[ps1074]

10. This is a scary pic

[KamaAina]

11. Believe it or not, it's actually on higher ground

That's the whole problem. The city slopes down from the Mississippi, and from Lake Pontchartrain, forming a giant bowl. You can test this out for yourself by going to Washington Artillery Park opposite Jackson Square (in a few weeks, anyway) and looking up at the passing ships.

Locals refer to the area with the skyscrapers as "the CBD" (central business district"; "downtown" is the area downstream from the French Quarter (opposed to "uptown" along St. Charles and Magazine), and parts of it appear to be taking it hard. :(

Edit: Pontchartrain. I may just possibly have been away too long...