NEW ORLEANS – A group of volunteers are filling sandbags in Treme and handing them out to anyone who needs them and can lend a helping hand.

The group, organized by former New Orleans City Councilmember Kristin Gisleson Palmer, got together quickly this morning in response to the threat of widespread flooding and the Sewerage and Water Board’s severely diminished pumping capacity.

Palmer said she was talking to friends who live in Treme, St. Roch, and the French Quarter who all saw an unusual amount of flooding last Saturday, and they all said they were worried about flooding again after a turbine fire sidelined much of the city’s ability to drain floodwater.

“These were areas…that had never flooded before,” she said. “And so when this happened, we were very concerned that it could happen again. We just made a few phone calls this morning. It wasn’t organized by the city, it was just organized by us.”

The group of volunteers set up shop on the corner of South Claiborne Avenue and St. Anne Street and have been busy filling sandbags all day.

“It’s free if you just come, and help a little bit, maybe load a few bags, and tie off a few bags, and then you can take a few bags,” she said.