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LAPLACE — Entergy Louisiana is reporting 19,075 power outages in St. John the Baptist Parish as of 7 p.m. August 29.

Hurricane Ida has battered Southeast Louisiana with relentless hurricane force winds since making landfall early this afternoon as a Category 4 storm with 150 mph sustained winds. As of 7 p.m., Ida is now a Category 3 hurricane with 120 mph winds, moving northwest at 10 mph.

Based on historical restoration times, Entergy Louisiana said customers in the direct path of a storm as intense as Hurricane Ida could experience outages for more than three weeks.

“While 90% of customers will be restored sooner, customers in the hardest-hit areas should plan for the possibility of experiencing extended power outages,” Entergy Louisiana said in a statement on its website.

Entergy will deploy scouts to assess damage to determine an estimated timeline for restoration once the weather threat has passed.

“To help ensure a smooth resumption of service, we ask that customers experiencing outages turn off or unplug their air conditioners and large appliances so that when power is restored, those appliances may be turned back on gradually,” Entergy officials said.