[Ichneumon]

Okay, am I the only one who sees the irony of water pumps that need major repairs if they get wet?

[muawiyah]

Your eyes should have totally glazed over by now and stuck to the inside of your eyelids.

I seriously doubt any LA Times writer knows anything at all about pumps ~ well, maybe one of those sexual performance enhancement devices, but not anything with serious capacity.

[Concentrate]

Electrical devices don't work when wet.

[aworldtrader]

"Okay, am I the only one who sees the irony of water pumps that need major repairs if they get wet?"

ROTF.........that crossed my mind as well :-)

[Vast Buffalo Wing Conspiracy]

Okay, am I the only one who sees the irony of water pumps that need major repairs if they get wet?

You would think, if they located the pumps in areas vulnerable to flooding, they would make the effort to put the pumps - and their backup power generators - above sea level. That way they could continue to work even if the city was flooded. Even if it required building the pumping station on stilts, they should have done it. Building the pumping stations (and the power for the pumping stations) below sea level in a flood zone assures that once the city is flooded, you can't pump the water out without major delays.