Crews have filled two sinkholes on Verna Ct, after one resident alerted the city Sunday afternoon.
Ginger Woodall, a resident, sounded the alarm after she said her six-year-old son fell into one of the sinkholes earlier Sunday.
“I had my youngest, step, go to the higher side of the street because it was so flooded. And when he did, he fell completely in the sinkhole. His head was completely underwater and I could not see him,” Woodall said, “I panicked and I reached down to grab him, and luckily he had just come out of the water and crawled out of the hole.”
Woodall said her son is okay, and was not injured in the fall.
She also said she’s thankful for the quick response from the City.
The Sewerage and Water Board said they coordinated getting the area secured with the City and its Contractor.
New Orleans City Councilmember Aimee McCarron said the block is under construction, and part of the Joint Infrastructure Recovery Response Project, a FEMA funded multi-billion dollar effort led by the Sewerage and Water Board and Department of Public Works.
“That’s the main issue when we have these big rains,” said McCarron, “some of these streets are like this where, you know, you’re definitely going to have potential for a hole to develop or something like that.”
McCarron also said there may have been an issue at Drainage Pumping Station 3, but is waiting to hear back from the Sewerage and Water Board if that contributed to the flooding in the Fair Grounds neighborhood.
As the potential for more rain looms, McCarron said she’ll be speaking with the Sewerage and Water Board this week to ensure that all construction projects are secured.
