What are the chances of lightning striking twice?

About the same as getting a 1 in in 100 year flood every year, I guess.

Lightning strikes and other electrical issues took several pumps out of service during the July 10 sudden rainstorm in New Orleans and a pair of canals were pushed near, or over, the brink, Sewerage & Water Board officials said Tuesday.

The problems, however, did not significantly impact the drainage system’s operations or significantly worsen the flooding New Orleans saw as a major thunderstorm struck the city in advance of Hurricane Barry, S&WB Executive Director Ghassan Korban said at a City Council hearing.

Did it make the street flooding caused by an 8.5 inches in three hours freak rain event that seems to happen all the time now any worse than it would have been otherwise?  S&WB swears up and down that it was past the point of mattering but it can't have helped.

Also it's not really an acceptable answer. City officials have come to rely on snarky drainsplaining as a standard response to any questions about the pumps during any flooding event. If people depend on a piece of public infrastructure to function, they're going to ask about it. They deserve a better answer than, "Well #actually..." even during events when the system is actually functioning perfectly which, remind me when the last time that happened was anyway.  It's not that we aren't willing to consider or aren't capable of understanding the complex challenges of water management in New Orleans. It's just that we shouldn't have to wade through a thick soup of condescension and defensiveness from the people in charge before we get to that explanation.

Flood control is one of the better examples of the divide between elitist and populist approaches to politics you will find in New Orleans. Credentialed experts aren't entitled to exclusive purview over public information and decision making. Meanwhile, just because you don't have all the facts about what's happening to you doesn't mean you don't have the right to shout rudely until you get them.  More often than not it's the only tool most of us have.  Looking around during one of these crises at who is shouting vs who is shaming them for it is a pretty good way to figure out which side everyone is really on.