New Orleans was made from swamplands, making the area much more susceptible to floods when it rains in Louisiana. Our current streets get flooded way too easily making it harder to travel for people traveling through the streets. This is partially due to our drains getting clogged making the flooding of the streets even worse.
Our main concern:
The biggest issue we are trying to resolve is that the drainage systems in the city are being blocked by trash and dirt, causing a substantial amount of flooding. This is a concern for us, as the large amounts of water disturbs both the flow of traffic and also is a danger to both people, property, animals, and plants.
Obstacles and supporting information:
We believe that the cause of the excessive flooding is the large quantities of trash and dirt that end up blocking the narrow sewer slits. As the rainwater sweeps through the streets, trash, and dirt if pushed into the sewer.
Who is engaged in this concern?
Currently the Lusher Charter High School, Engineering 3 class is engaging in this concern working with the help of Public lab to try and solve this problem. Personally, our group is Natalie, Ian, Wheeler, & Brandon.
What are the initial questions?
- What are the types of trash?
- What do other places that are below sea level do differently?
- How long are drains clogged before they are cleared?
- What are the flaws of the current storm drain design?
- How can we encourage our community to help fix this problem?