While it is easy to say that the flooding of hundreds of Kenner homes and entire neighborhoods during Hurricane Francine was the result of Jefferson Parish and Airport pumps not operating, there is another cause that hasn’t been adequately discussed: Kenner Mayor Mike Glaser.
Glaser, who was Kenner Police Chief prior to being elected Mayor in 2022, has been through storms and hurricanes before. But, for Hurricane Francine, he performed dismally and made some poor decisions which delayed cleanup and, more importantly, delayed Kenner residents from receiving vital recovery funds.
There are several reasons why I believe Glaser is at least partly to blame for the flooding caused by Hurricane Francine along with the delay in cleanup and I will elaborate here.
Lack of Pump Test Participation
As Police Chief, and Deputy Chief for years before that, Glaser should have worked closely with Kenner’s Emergency Operations Manager, Doug Dodt, along with Managers/Directors from the Airport and Jefferson Parish.
As Mayor, Glaser is ultimately in charge of emergency preparedness.
Kenner residents were shocked to learn after Francine that the 4 pumps that drain Armstrong International Airport could not be turned on manually and that 3 or the 4 pumps weren’t operational.
Had Glaser requested and attended, or at least sent a City of Kenner representative to monitor a pump test sometime in the past 2 Hurricane seasons that he has been Kenner Mayor, we would have known that the Airport pumps couldn’t be operated manually and the situation could have been addressed.
Similarly, with the malfunctioning JP pumps, the City (and Glaser as Mayor) should demand to be present at a pump test prior to every major storm. This hasn’t occurred.
Now, I can give Jefferson Parish District 4 Councilwoman Arita Bohannon a pass for not requesting or participating in a pump test. She’s in her first year on the council. Hopefully, she will do better next year and in the future.
But, I cannot give Bohannan a pass when she posts a video on Social Media the day of Francine from in front of one of the pump stations and proclaimed, “We’re ready Jefferson Parish!”
First, the statement that “We’re ready” when discussing a Hurricane is ignorant. Tropical Storms and Hurricanes change in a second. Were the people of Western North Carolina expecting anything close to what they received from Hurricane Helene?
No matter how much you prepare, it’s foolish to say “We’re ready”. It’s even more foolish when an elected official says it.
Remote Pump Monitoring
Despite Kenner having its own Emergency Operations Center (EOC), while Jefferson Parish does monitor the Airport pumps remotely, the City does not employ any Remote Pump Monitoring software to ensure that the Jefferson Parish and Airport pumps are on and functioning properly.
Why?
While this is not a "Glaser Exclusive issue", it does show that Glaser and his Administration are not proactive.
If you have 2 groups (JP & the Airport) responsible for your drainage, wouldn't it be important for the Mayor and his staff to know that those pumps are functioning? Shouldn't that be a priority?
Lack of Pre-Disaster Contracts
We learned after Hurricane Ida that, while expensive, Pre-Disaster Contracts are vital to recovery.
Mayor Glaser has kept many of the Pre-Disaster Contracts that were installed by former Mayor Ben Zahn. However unlike Zahn, Glaser didn’t execute the contracts which led to the delay in storm pickup and ultimately, recovery.
This was due to Glaser not adequately surveying the damage to Kenner residents and grossly undercounting the amount of homes impacted by Francine. This gross undercount caused Jefferson Parish to be excluded from the Disaster Declaration that other Parishes participated in which would have allowed FEMA reimbursement for storm related costs.
In addition, this also delayed the inclusion of JP in the DSNAP (Disaster SNAP Benefits) Program to help Kenner and JP residents receive a one-time disaster payment to replace food damaged due to the loss of power in most of the city.
The lack of the prompt disaster declaration and Glaser’s reluctance to pay the cost of Francine recovery, led to the entire cleanup burden being placed on Waste Pro, Kenner’s trash contractor.
Waste Pro also has other municipal contracts in the area and could only devote so much manpower to Kenner.
While Waste Pro worked overtime to assist Kenner’s cleanup, it simply couldn’t keep up with the magnitude of damage which led to hurricane damage languishing on Kenner streets for far longer than it needed to.
Portable Pump Units
One Pre-Disaster Contract that Kenner does not have in place and did not utilize for Francine is a contract to provide Portable Pumping Units.
Portable Pumping Units could have been moved to various parts of the city and been used to clear streets, push water away from neighborhoods, etc. Portable Pumps are available in 2 sizes – 6" and 8” and are relatively inexpensive to purchase and even less expensive to rent with a Pre-Disaster Contract. 6” or 8” Portable Pump Units are available to rent for between $1,000 – 1,500 per week or $5,000 – 6,000 per month for 8” pumps. Both costs would have been FEMA reimbursable.
Even if Kenner bit down on the cost to own 5 – 10 Portable Pump Units and incurred the one-time cost, these pumps could save houses, cars, even entire neighborhoods. In addition, if we owned the pumps, we could rent them to other municipalities if they were not needed in Kenner.
Again, Glaser and his Administration should have utilized Portable Pump Units either through a Pre-Disaster Rental Contract or Kenner should have allocated the funds to purchase them outright. The fact that Glaser did neither allowed more homes and vehicles to flood and is negligent on his part.
Sandbags
For Hurricanes Ida, Zeta and numerous others, the City of Kenner provided sandbags for residents. Normally, there was a sand pile at Muss Bertolino for North Kenner and a South Kenner location as well.
For Ida, I remember Kenner Fire Department members assisting residents with filling sandbags.
While sandbags are not a foolproof deterrent to house flooding, they can stop or slow the creep of floodwaters until the pumps can catch up.
The Town of Lafitte actually invested in a $200,000 building to house sand and sandbags for residents. Lafitte regularly offers residents and business owners sandbags as do numerous cities and towns in Florida and other areas.
In fact, during both Hurricanes Helene & Milton, Florida Governer Ron DeSantis discussed the availability of sandbags at locations across the state during several televised press conferences.
For Francine, Glaser didn’t offer sandbags.
When asked about the lack of sandbags for Francine, Glaser replied, “Sandbags don’t work.”
As I mentioned, sandbags may not stop all floodwater, but they could have helped save some property and lessened damages.
The question is, if sandbags work in Lafitte, Florida, other places and in Kenner for years, what does Glaser now know that we don’t?
Again, if Kenner offered sandbags and we were part of a disaster declaration, the cost would have been FEMA reimbursable.
Development
Portions of Northwest Kenner flooded for the first time in recent memory. At a Kenner City Council meeting, Al Morella discussed a canal overtopping for the first time in the 50+ years he has resided near there.
One reason for this flooding is the development at Seton Parc.
The Seton Parc development was begun during the Zahn Administration. Mayor Zahn and members of his Administration advised the developer that additional drainage would be required to be installed for the development to progress.
When Glaser took over, he relaxed those drainage requirements.
Now, Glaser and JP Councilwoman Bohannon are lobbying the state for funding for $12 Million Pumping Station at Seton Parc.
The question is: why? Why did Glaser relax the requirements and why are we now playing catch-up at taxpayer’s expense?
And, the most important question: why are taxpayers paying and not the developer?
Cities and counties across the country have Economic Impact Fees that are levied on Property Developers. If you want to build homes or apartments on former greenspace or have property rezoned for a different use, the city or county calculates the projected costs of the development on the existing infrastructure and levies an Economic Impact Fee on the property developer.
Kenner doesn’t do that. Thus, taxpayers foot the bill for the infrastructure costs caused by developers or residents. Whether it is increased traffic, more drainage & wastewater treatment, or other infrastructure costs due to the increased burdens of the development, Kenner expects taxpayers to pay up.
When Henry Shane’s apartment complex next to Ochsner is opened, do you honestly believe that traffic will not be impacted on Loyola and West Esplanade or that Kenner lift stations (which are already overburdened) are ready? What happens if the storm drains can’t keep up and University City floods again or another area because of this complex?
What about The Esplanade and the repeated discussions of apartments on that site? What if the subdivisions around The Esplanade like Greenlawn flooded or the sewerage lift station couldn’t keep up and toilets all over Greenlawn overtopped?
You can’t add dozens of homes or hundreds of apartments within a small area and expect city services to not become overwhelmed. And, we already know that Kenner Officials are not proactive enough to factor in growth into our infrastructure.
Now, I’m not anti-business. In fact, quite the opposite. But, as I asked with the sandbags, if Economic Impact Fees are good for other cities, why is Kenner late to the party? Why aren’t we taxing Property Developers instead of continuing to reach into taxpayers pockets?
Now, this is not solely a Mike Glaser issue. It is however, an issue when an inept, unqualified Mayor is elected.
Storm Drain Cleanout
Since Katrina, Kenner Mayors have frequently reminded residents to clean out storm drains in front of their residences and this is effective at removing surface debris and allowing water to more freely enter the storm drains. \
But, what happens then?
After the water enters the storm drains it can become stopped further into the system by mounds of grass clippings that have accumulated, mud clinging to other debris like tree branches that have fallen through the storm grates, and more.
Some Mayors have been proactive about cleaning below the surface, into the storm drains where residents can’t clean.
Unfortunately, Mike Glaser isn’t proactive about many things.
During the Zahn Administration (and perhaps even before that), Kenner owned 4 Vacuum Truck which would place a hose inside a storm drain and suck out debris that had fallen below the surface and could have clogged the flow of water.
I remember that Mayor Zahn produced a video discussing a schedule for the Vacuum Trucks to go throughout the city to clean out the storm drains on a regular basis before Hurricane Season began.
In the 2 ½ years of the Glaser Administration, I haven’t heard one word about the Vacuum Trucks, seen any out on Kenner streets, or had anyone report a “Vacuum Truck Sighting”.
In fact, I don’t even know if Kenner still owns the Vacuum Trucks or if they are operational.
But, they were operational and functioning prior to the Glaser Administration and it helped alleviate drainage issues.
Drainage Infrastructure
While this is not inherently a “Mike Glaser Problem”, Glaser has continued it.
Since Katrina, and during every Storm, Hurricane or even a strong rain, we have all heard the familiar refrain - “Our pumps can’t keep up. They can only handle 1” of rain for the first hour and ½” for every hour after that”.
The first time I heard that was probably in 2007 when former Jefferson Parish President (then a JP Councilman) John Young described the issue during a radio interview with me. President Young discussed the frequent flooding in Elmwood due to “High Intensity, Short Duration Thunderstorms” (another term I hadn’t heard up to that point).
Jefferson Parish took several measures to help alleviate some of the frequent flooding in Elmwood like building a retention pond at a public park and other measures. They initiated a Pump to the River project and have taken other steps as well.
In Kenner, for the past 19 years, we have continued to hear, “Our pumps can’t keep up.”
The question is, why not? Why haven’t we significantly increased pump capacity?
The easy answer is cost.
Our undergrounds pipes are only so big and can handle only so much water.
But why haven’t we systematically focused on trouble spots, and begun to replace the drainage pipes with larger pipes that can handle more water quickly and also significantly increased pump capacity?
Jefferson Parish spent millions building Safehouses so Pump Operators would be safe in a storm.
Jefferson Parish and the City of Kenner have received or will receive, Tens of Millions of Dollars from FEMA, Insurance Claims from Ida, and other Federal, State and Regional Funding in addition to citizens being asked repeatedly to increase taxes and fees. Yet Kenner has had no significant new drainage projects during the past 19 years.
Yes, Pump to the River is coming – but we’ve heard that for years.
How many storms will Kenner be required to endure before we see significant drainage progress or even a plan for significant drainage progress?
The cost to Kenner residents for every storm is significant – increased property and auto insurance, property damage, vehicle damage, lowered property values, etc.
At a time when Kenner residents already cannot afford skyrocketing insurance rates, a priority for the Glaser Administration (and future Administrations) should be drainage improvements.
Conclusion
- In 2 ½ years as Mayor, neither Glaser or his Administration requested or participated in a pump test at the Airport. If they had, Glaser would have realized that the Airport pumps could not be turned on manually. This is a fatal flaw that cost Kenner homeowners.
- Glaser failed to implement any Pre-Disaster Recovery contracts which could have accelerated Kenner’s debris pickup and the cleanup of the city.
- Glaser grossly underestimated the amount of damaged homes initially because he failed to canvass the impacted areas. This undercount led to the delay of Jefferson Parish’s inclusion in the disaster declaration and in the DSNAP process.
- Kenner had no plan and still has no plans or contracts in place to utilize Portable Pump Units.
- Kenner could have made sandbags available (as they have in the past) but Glaser doesn’t believe they work.
- Despite other cities and counties across the country utilizing Developers to pay stressing existing infrastructure, Kenner would rather put the burden on taxpayers.
- Kenner had 4 Vacuum Trucks in use during the Zahn Administration and they have not been used (and may not even be operational) under Glaser.
- Since Katrina, Kenner has not invested in any significant drainage projects. While there are projects in various stages, the fact is, Kenner is in the same or worse position as it was for Katrina and Ida. Not all of this can be blamed on Glaser, but the past 2 ½ years certainly can.
- I’m certain that Glaser (or his Political Consultant) will debate each of these points and maybe even call me a “fool” (again). But, you can decide for yourself.
