Matt McBride
@mcbride-matt.bsky.social
#nola freelance reporter
It would be nice if they didn't charge an arm and a leg to access public records.
November 16, 2025 at 4:58 PM
It would be nice if they didn't charge an arm and a leg to access public records.
"Neutral ground parking allowed" message from nolaready issued after severe thunderstorm was already on top of New Orleans, and just minutes prior to flash flood warning. This happens so, so often.
October 26, 2025 at 12:41 PM
"Neutral ground parking allowed" message from nolaready issued after severe thunderstorm was already on top of New Orleans, and just minutes prior to flash flood warning. This happens so, so often.
No real reason to worry about drainage by S&WB pumps and power assets, especially when the last update - two days ago - said they were mainly relying on hugely unreliable T4, EMDs and frequency changers.
October 26, 2025 at 12:17 PM
No real reason to worry about drainage by S&WB pumps and power assets, especially when the last update - two days ago - said they were mainly relying on hugely unreliable T4, EMDs and frequency changers.
Identical radio silence from nolaready, which also apparently shuts down on Friday afternoons.
October 26, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Identical radio silence from nolaready, which also apparently shuts down on Friday afternoons.
Over $300 million spent by
Sewerage & Water Board to supposedly make New Orleans' drainage pump power more reliable, but since a rainstorm is coming in during non-business hours, the most the public finds out is "It's off," on Friday afternoon. Then radio silence.
Sewerage & Water Board to supposedly make New Orleans' drainage pump power more reliable, but since a rainstorm is coming in during non-business hours, the most the public finds out is "It's off," on Friday afternoon. Then radio silence.
October 26, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Over $300 million spent by
Sewerage & Water Board to supposedly make New Orleans' drainage pump power more reliable, but since a rainstorm is coming in during non-business hours, the most the public finds out is "It's off," on Friday afternoon. Then radio silence.
Sewerage & Water Board to supposedly make New Orleans' drainage pump power more reliable, but since a rainstorm is coming in during non-business hours, the most the public finds out is "It's off," on Friday afternoon. Then radio silence.
This is the exact opposite of why the S&WB power complex was put in. There's bad weather moving into New Orleans this weekend, the complex ("SFC1"= new Static Frequency Converter 1) is offline during its "reliability test," rickety T4 has been turned on, and T5 remains down.
October 25, 2025 at 1:01 AM
This is the exact opposite of why the S&WB power complex was put in. There's bad weather moving into New Orleans this weekend, the complex ("SFC1"= new Static Frequency Converter 1) is offline during its "reliability test," rickety T4 has been turned on, and T5 remains down.
What is most interesting is that the S&WB FEMA reimbursement data indicates the dropoff began well before the government shutdown began Oct. 1. Reimbursements leveled off a month before that. (7/x)
October 22, 2025 at 4:14 PM
What is most interesting is that the S&WB FEMA reimbursement data indicates the dropoff began well before the government shutdown began Oct. 1. Reimbursements leveled off a month before that. (7/x)
Now there are a lot of caveats to this. Like I said, S&WB is presenting two parallel sets of data each month to the Board, and they have mismatched dates, amounts of funds obligated, and other bits. Also, S&WB appears to have quite a bit of cash on hand (5/x)
October 22, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Now there are a lot of caveats to this. Like I said, S&WB is presenting two parallel sets of data each month to the Board, and they have mismatched dates, amounts of funds obligated, and other bits. Also, S&WB appears to have quite a bit of cash on hand (5/x)
Looking a little closer, there has been a steep dropoff very recently. FEMA reimbursements the last two months combined were about $330,000. The reimbursement the month before that was nearly $4 million. (4/x)
October 22, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Looking a little closer, there has been a steep dropoff very recently. FEMA reimbursements the last two months combined were about $330,000. The reimbursement the month before that was nearly $4 million. (4/x)
I picked one set of data and graphed out the S&WB FEMA reimbursements since January, 2022. As expected, as projects (Katrina public assistance, HMGP, JIRR) are winding down, the line is leveling out (3/x)
October 22, 2025 at 4:14 PM
I picked one set of data and graphed out the S&WB FEMA reimbursements since January, 2022. As expected, as projects (Katrina public assistance, HMGP, JIRR) are winding down, the line is leveling out (3/x)
The Sewerage & Water Board power complex is now online. They barely announced it in a tiny note on their power dashboard yesterday: "[We] have another 22MW of [25 cycle] power from SFC1 that is being used as part of a 30-day reliability testing period." (1/6)
September 27, 2025 at 8:13 PM
The Sewerage & Water Board power complex is now online. They barely announced it in a tiny note on their power dashboard yesterday: "[We] have another 22MW of [25 cycle] power from SFC1 that is being used as part of a 30-day reliability testing period." (1/6)
Portland at war
September 27, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Portland at war
The S&WB said this nearly 3 weeks ago. It was in their September 2, 2025 press release:
www.swbno.org/PressRelease...
www.swbno.org/PressRelease...
September 19, 2025 at 7:46 PM
The S&WB said this nearly 3 weeks ago. It was in their September 2, 2025 press release:
www.swbno.org/PressRelease...
www.swbno.org/PressRelease...
We still have our Broadmoor Lives sign.
August 30, 2025 at 2:08 AM
We still have our Broadmoor Lives sign.
There were two breaches in the east Industrial Canal floodwall which faced - and still faces - the Lower Ninth Ward (lower right in photo below). There were also two breaches on the west side of the canal, one on a floodwall and one on a levee. (18/x)
August 24, 2025 at 9:30 PM
There were two breaches in the east Industrial Canal floodwall which faced - and still faces - the Lower Ninth Ward (lower right in photo below). There were also two breaches on the west side of the canal, one on a floodwall and one on a levee. (18/x)
In the 8/24/25 story below, NPR's Greg Allen and Maria Penaloza get it wrong in describing the cause of the flooding in the Lower Ninth Ward. (17/x) www.npr.org/2025/08/24/n...
August 24, 2025 at 9:30 PM
In the 8/24/25 story below, NPR's Greg Allen and Maria Penaloza get it wrong in describing the cause of the flooding in the Lower Ninth Ward. (17/x) www.npr.org/2025/08/24/n...
They make it sound like the IPET team was convened strictly to write an academic document. They don't even mention the final report, a draft of which was released June 1, 2006 at a press conference when the Corps admitted fault. It's historical revisionism. (14/x)
August 24, 2025 at 9:30 PM
They make it sound like the IPET team was convened strictly to write an academic document. They don't even mention the final report, a draft of which was released June 1, 2006 at a press conference when the Corps admitted fault. It's historical revisionism. (14/x)
This latest Corps story about Katrina implicitly acknowledges their deletion of their own investigation. It doesn't even mention the final report, only referring to a separate document called the Decision Making Chronology which came out a year after the final report. (13/x)
August 24, 2025 at 9:30 PM
This latest Corps story about Katrina implicitly acknowledges their deletion of their own investigation. It doesn't even mention the final report, only referring to a separate document called the Decision Making Chronology which came out a year after the final report. (13/x)
That's right. The primary investigation for the worst civil engineering disaster on American soil cannot be accessed any more. It used to sit on the server for the Corps' Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg at ipet.wes.army.mil But it went away in 2013 (10/x)
August 24, 2025 at 9:30 PM
That's right. The primary investigation for the worst civil engineering disaster on American soil cannot be accessed any more. It used to sit on the server for the Corps' Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg at ipet.wes.army.mil But it went away in 2013 (10/x)
Overall. the Corps tries to diminish Katrina. In their telling, the whole story is about how they responded, not how they were responsible. In their first sentence, they group Katrina with Rita, the storm that hit 300 miles away and 6 weeks later. (7/x)
August 24, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Overall. the Corps tries to diminish Katrina. In their telling, the whole story is about how they responded, not how they were responsible. In their first sentence, they group Katrina with Rita, the storm that hit 300 miles away and 6 weeks later. (7/x)
But the article is not even about Hurricane Katrina. The events of the levee failures are reduced to less than the first paragraph. And the Corps still can't resist making it seem like they didn't screw the pooch. They claim their levees and floodwalls were "overwhelmed" (5/x)
August 24, 2025 at 9:30 PM
But the article is not even about Hurricane Katrina. The events of the levee failures are reduced to less than the first paragraph. And the Corps still can't resist making it seem like they didn't screw the pooch. They claim their levees and floodwalls were "overwhelmed" (5/x)
A review of the "media" sites on the main Corps HQ page, the page for the Corps' Mississippi Valley Division, and for the Corps' New Orleans District finds nothing. Nothing on their Facebook pages either. (3/x)
August 24, 2025 at 9:30 PM
A review of the "media" sites on the main Corps HQ page, the page for the Corps' Mississippi Valley Division, and for the Corps' New Orleans District finds nothing. Nothing on their Facebook pages either. (3/x)
The frequency changers are no great shakes. They have had a spate of failures recently, and they date back nearly a century. One at station D ("PSD") is from 1931 and the other is from 1946, FC1 and FC2 ("CFC") date from 1945 (graphic from 11/15/17 SWB mtg): (17/x)
August 21, 2025 at 12:16 PM
The frequency changers are no great shakes. They have had a spate of failures recently, and they date back nearly a century. One at station D ("PSD") is from 1931 and the other is from 1946, FC1 and FC2 ("CFC") date from 1945 (graphic from 11/15/17 SWB mtg): (17/x)
So without substation or T5 power available, to be prepared for a big pop up storm, S&WB would have to start T4 now and run 25 Hz load off it 24/7. But running T4 that much carries a risk of total failure. They have chosen not to run T4 (it's "available", not "running"): (11/x)
August 21, 2025 at 12:16 PM
So without substation or T5 power available, to be prepared for a big pop up storm, S&WB would have to start T4 now and run 25 Hz load off it 24/7. But running T4 that much carries a risk of total failure. They have chosen not to run T4 (it's "available", not "running"): (11/x)
The 25 Hz power they could get instantly from the new substation (22 MW) to replace T4 isn't available because of more delays. (10/x) www.swbno.org/PressRelease...
August 21, 2025 at 12:16 PM
The 25 Hz power they could get instantly from the new substation (22 MW) to replace T4 isn't available because of more delays. (10/x) www.swbno.org/PressRelease...