Page 6 - Pumping System News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

And what that has done is bring more of the core into new orleans, and it has been hours on end of hurricane force winds and the heavy rain and all the impacts that come along with it. new orleans is largely below sea level and the water has to be pumped out. rainwater on a normal summer day — any rain that comes down has to be pumped out. those pumps are dependent on power. they had backup power systems. the main power grid, as you mentioned, is down. they are having catastrophic failures, as you talked about. the sewage and water board that's in charge of that pumping system has been provi...

Catastrophic damage we have already seen from this system. back to you. todd: even if the levees worked, janice, you're mentioning so much rain. it's like you're filling a sink that is plugged up and there's no place for the water to go so it's going to inundate those communities. again, even if levees work. >> correct. yes. new orleans, it's all a pumping system, even if it's just a day with rain, they use that pumping system to get the water out and these pumps are working overtime and it's really going to be a test of the levees and the pumping system, since they were fortified with katrina...

Through this area. rain is also an issue. this is additional rainfall, some of those really bright purple colors, that could be another 10 inches of rain. new orleans is stretching a little farther up, good portion of eastern louisiana is going to see very heavy rain. and then this tracks across the southeast, eventually getting up to the ohio river valley, and within a couple of days you're dealing with it up into new england. it's a large area where we're paying attention to the possibility of flooding, really high in eastern louisiana, but you're getting into with alabama and mississippi, s...

Evacuation orders and got out officials say 40 decided to stay and now they cannot be reached for help. >> we have gotten request for rescue for people who stayed on the island obviously had mentioned white caps on the highway that fire station is taking water on grand isle obviously first responders cannot get to you so they will have to hunker down and wait for the storm to pass before it is safe. reporter: 21 —- up to 20 inches of rain could fall and isolated spots emergency management says that federal levees are holding at this time you did hear from the lieutenant governor about a poss...

Not only the winds, poppy, but that storm surge. they're not katrina levels, 20, 24 feet, but enough inundation well inland and miles. not to mention the pumping system can only handle so much in new orleans. 1 inch an hour, half an inch after that. they could see 10 to 15 inches in some cases. it's going to be a long day. >> tom sater, thank you for the update. let's get to jason carroll in louisiana close to where ida may make laughlin tomorrow. what's the latest, jason? >> reporter: if you look behind me, poppy, you can see there are boarded up buildings, sandbagged building as well. l that...