Thousands remain without power in River Parishes
Published 10:53 am Tuesday, August 31, 2021
- Entergy Louisiana officials worked on downed power lines in LaPlace on Tuesday. This photo was taken in front of the Cambridge subdivision.
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LAPLACE — Entergy Louisiana reported that 18,336 customers remain without power in St. John the Baptist Parish Tuesday morning following Hurricane Ida.
There are 21,201 customers without power in St. Charles Parish and 7,930 customers without power in St. James Parish, approximately 48 hours after Ida made landfall as a dangerous Category 4 hurricane near Port Fourchon, Louisiana with wind speeds of 150 miles per hour.
This map from Entergy Louisiana shows power outages across the St. John the Baptist Parish area on August 31.
Approximately 820,000 power outages were recorded across Louisiana in relation to the storm. Hurricane impacts put 216 substations and more than 2,000 miles of transmission lines out of service.
Entergy Louisiana announced Tuesday that more than 20,000 workers on its storm team had begun assessing and repairing damages caused by Hurricane Ida’s landfall. Entergy workers were spotted conducting inspection of damage in LaPlace and across the Bayou Parishes.
According to officials, it has historically taken more than three weeks to fully restore power for customers in the direct path of a storm as strong as Ida. While 90% of customers should see restored power sooner, everyone should plan for the possibility of extended outages.
“Where conditions permitted, our crews were out at first light today assessing damage where it was safe to do so to get a better scope of damage. It would be premature to speculate at this time when power will be restored given the extent of the damage,” Entergy officials said. “Road closures, flooding and other accessibility challenges due to the storm is affecting our ability to reach some areas of our territory and could delay restoration in those communities. We are assessing damage as safely and quickly as we can.”
To ensure the process goes smoothly, residents are asked to turn off or unplug air conditioners and large appliances. When power is restored, they can be turned back on gradually.
Residents are also asked to stay away from suspected gas leaks and avoid turning natural gas valves on or off during this time. To report a gas leak, call 1-800-9-OUTAGE.
