New Orleans Floods After Heavy Rainfall Overwhelms City Pumps

Parts of New Orleans saw widespread flooding over the weekend after heavy rainfall overwhelmed the city's pump stations, according to officials.

Stubborn summertime thunderstorms refused to leave the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain, including the New Orleans metro area Saturday afternoon, according to weather.com meteorologist Jonathan Belles. High rainfall rates exceeded the rate that water could be pumped out of the city and surrounding areas. 

NOLA.com reports city officials said Sunday that some neighborhoods saw between 8 and 10 inches (20 and 25 centimeters) of rain over a few hours Saturday. That was too much for the Sewerage & Water Board's 24 pump stations to cope with even though all were operating.

Deputy Mayor Ryan Berni told reporters the city has no immediate plans to request an emergency declaration from the state, but that could change as the city collects more information on flood damage.

City homeland security director Aaron Miller says that with more heavy rain predicted for Monday afternoon, the city's pumping capacity could be overwhelmed again.