Mardi Gras is just two weeks away, and New Orleans is getting ready -- by making some room in its drainage system.
City officials recently spent $7 million to remove more than 46 tons of old Carnival beads from past Mardi Gras celebrations. The 93,000 pounds of beads made up a portion of the 7.2 million pounds of trash that was pulled out of catch basins along the five-block parade route. The clogged catch basins were causing flooding in parts of the city.
City officials admitted that they have to do a better job of cleaning up the beaded throws after Mardi Gras and are looking into ways to prevent these clogs from happening again. (Fortune)