Storms and ‘unique’ events prompted ‘extremely rare’ Jefferson Parish boil water advisory, councilwoman says

JEFFERSON PARISH, La. (WVUE) - A round of afternoon storms that prompted a flood advisory in Jefferson Parish on Thursday (June 8), coupled with a “number of unique factors,” prompted a boil water advisory for the entire East Bank of the parish that spanned until Saturday morning, according to Councilwoman Jennifer Van Vrancken.

“Rest assured, this is an extremely rare occurrence in Jefferson Parish and was caused by a number of unique factors,” she wrote.

The precautionary measure was issued Thursday after an unsafe drop in water pressure due to repeated power surges and outages at the water treatment plant.

The boil order was lifted around 1:23 p.m. on Saturday after the water system tested safe.

In a series of Tweets, Van Vrancken says she spoke with the Director of Public Works and Director of Water, who explained that the storms, which produced heavy rainfall and lightning strikes, took both the primary and redundant sources of power offline.

She says the parish also has a backup generator, which takes two minutes to kick on, during which time the water towers normally maintain pressure. However, the David Drive Water Tower is under renovation and was not filled with water, thus could not maintain pressure. Van Vrancken says those renovations are expected to be completed in one month.

“All of this is to reassure our residents and businesses that the boil water advisory was the result of a unique combination of events and should continue to be a rare occurrence and inconvenience,” she wrote.

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