They really need to bring in pumps. I think that is the only way to get the water out. Now, what will be left after they do that.... (turning green).
Makes me green as well -- have noticed oil slicks starting to appear in some places as well.
There are 22 drainage pumping stations in NO. They cost millions of $ to build. Bringing in portable pumps will not help the major problems. At full capacity the NO pumping stations can pump over 1 billion gallons of water per hour. This will not solve the entire problem however as the pumping will increase the level of Lake Ponchartrain also. Eventually Lake Ponchartrain will return to a more normal, pre-storm level and the water will flow again to the lake via the canals in NO.