BATON ROUGE — A restaurant under the Perkins Road overpass has flooded multiple times over the past week, and business owners believe a nearby construction project may be part of the problem.

Surveillance video from BLDG 5 on Kalurah Street shows several inches of water inside the restaurant while guests were eating dinner on Monday, May 11.

Brand manager Brayden Buyas said employees worked to get the water under control.

"We have had about three moments where the restaurant has been flooding. Squeeging to remove the water, using towels to remove the water. Everything we could do. It was all hands on deck," said Buyas.

Buyas has worked at the restaurant for five years and said this past week marked the worst flooding he has seen there.

"We like to provide our guests with an optimal, awesome experience, and having to navigate that while having water come in during our lunch service and during our dinner service can be difficult," Buyas said.

Two other businesses nearby, who declined to speak on camera, also said they experienced flooding.

BLDG 5's owners believe the I-10 Widening Project across the street may be contributing to the increased flooding. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development told WBRZ that no drainage issues have been reported from that project.

EBR Transportation and Drainage Director Fred Raiford received hundreds of complaints about high water over the weekend.

"Friday, I had 370 emails. Saturday, I had close to 300," Raiford said.

Crews are now cleaning drains and canals and searching for potential clogs. Raiford said when rain falls quickly, the system will always struggle to keep up.

"There's a lot of street flooding. With that being said, we are looking at ways to address some of the drainage," Raiford said.

There is an item on the Metro Council agenda asking for approval of a contractor to continue the Perkins Overpass Project. It was approved by voters in 2023 and includes sidewalk, infrastructure, and drainage upgrades to the area.

Raiford also said the University Lakes Project, slated for completion at LSU this year, will help pump more stormwater out near the overpass, City-Brooks Community Park, and LSU.