The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
50°F
Current Conditions
Broken clouds
View complete weather report
Subscribe now

Tons of Mardi Gras beads down the drains in New Orleans

A worker loads Mardi Gras beads into a trash can in front of a Bourbon Street bar in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Wednesday , March 1, 2006, the morning after Mardi Gras, the first since Hurricane Katrina devastated the region. (CAROLYN KASTER / Associated Press)
Associated Press
A worker loads Mardi Gras beads into a trash can in front of a Bourbon Street bar in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Wednesday , March 1, 2006, the morning after Mardi Gras, the first since Hurricane Katrina devastated the region. (CAROLYN KASTER / Associated Press)

NEW ORLEANS – Let the good times roll – just not into New Orleans’ storm drains.

That’s the plea from city officials.

Local news outlets report cleaning crews have sucked out more than 46 tons of Mardi Gras beads from catch basins on along a five-block stretch of St. Charles Avenue downtown, a popular parade route.

Department of Public Works Interim Director Dani Galloway said Thursday that the four-month emergency program had cleaned 15,000 catch basins altogether as of Wednesday, removing roughly 7.2 million poundsof debris.

It’s part of a $22 million contract to tackle the city’s drainage system in response to heavy August flooding.

Galloway asked residents to step up and clear neighborhood catch basins, and said the city is looking at installing temporary “gutter buddies.”